Calcutta, Jan. 20: Calcutta High Court today allowed a lawyer to move a public interest litigation (PIL) demanding the court’s intervention to restrain the government from paying a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the family of each of the 172 hooch victims in Diamond Harbour.

Moving the prayer before the division bench of Chief Justice J.N. Patel and Justice S.K. Chakrabarti, lawyer Chittaranjan Panda said: “The matter is serious. The government has decided to spend public money… The state cannot be allowed to disburse public money on such a purpose.”

In his petition, Panda said some newspapers had reported that the compensation amount — Rs 3.44 crore — would have to be diverted from some relief funds. The petitioner wanted to know whether the government had the power to disburse money from relief funds, meant to be used in the event of a natural disaster.

The petitioner also challenged the decision on moral grounds. “I think that a move like this will encourage poor village people to consume illicit liquor,” Panda said.

The judges discussed the issue among themselves before allowing Panda to file the PIL on January 24. The case will be heard on January 27. The court asked Panda to give a copy of the PIL to the state government after it is filed.

Panda requested the court to pass a suo-motu order asking the state not to disburse the amount till the hearing. The judges, however, said they could not pass any order as the case had not been filed. They assured the petitioner that the government would have to abide by the verdict even if the disbursement process started in the meantime.

The court did not allow government pleader Ashok Banerjee to speak, saying he could do so only after the government was served a notice.

According to Panda, if the government was so keen on paying compensation to the victims, it could have realised the amount from the people running the hooch trade. “The amount could also have been realised from the salaries of the government officials who had looked the other way while the illicit liquor trade flourished in the remote villages,” he said.

Baby death

A girl born on the roadside yesterday after her mother, who had developed complications during pregnancy, was allegedly asked to return home by Burdwan Medical College Hospital (BMCH) doctors died this morning.

A health department team will visit BMCH tomorrow to find out why the mother, Parbati Bagdi, was discharged. Her mother Kalpana said the doctors had said Parbati’s delivery date was a month away.