Syed Imran, one of the men arrested and later acquitted in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blasts
Hyderabad:
The Andhra Pradesh High Court has suspended its own order that struck down the compensation given to Muslim men wrongly arrested for the 2007 blasts in Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid.
It comes as a huge relief to the state's Congress government, which was the first to offer monetary relief for false terror arrests.
On September 16, the court had ordered the state government to take back Rs. 70 lakh paid to 70 young men who were arrested just after the blasts but were later let off after the investigations found them innocent.
Acting on a plea by the falsely accused men, the court today said the Supreme Court had in the past ruled in favour of governments deciding such compensation at their own discretion. The case will be heard again in two weeks.
The Andhra Pradesh government had earlier said it would challenge the order.The government had handed out compensation after an order from the National Minorities Commission which said the men had been targeted because they belonged to a particular community. Many of the men had alleged that they were tortured in custody.
Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy had said that the government felt it was necessary to "rehabilitate wronged youth."
It comes as a huge relief to the state's Congress government, which was the first to offer monetary relief for false terror arrests.
On September 16, the court had ordered the state government to take back Rs. 70 lakh paid to 70 young men who were arrested just after the blasts but were later let off after the investigations found them innocent.
Acting on a plea by the falsely accused men, the court today said the Supreme Court had in the past ruled in favour of governments deciding such compensation at their own discretion. The case will be heard again in two weeks.
The Andhra Pradesh government had earlier said it would challenge the order.The government had handed out compensation after an order from the National Minorities Commission which said the men had been targeted because they belonged to a particular community. Many of the men had alleged that they were tortured in custody.
Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy had said that the government felt it was necessary to "rehabilitate wronged youth."
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