Supreme Court demands report on Orissa anti–Christian violence

The Supreme Court of India has ordered the Orissa state to report on steps taken to control the rising anti–Christian violence that claimed over 40 lives in the state.

The court's order demanding a report of the Orissa administration came after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ordered the state to punish those responsible for murder and arson in the state.

"The court wanted to know what the state government was doing to protect the lives of people belonging to the Christian community," a court official said.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack and Bhubaneshwar has filed a petition in the Supreme Court requesting an impartial probe in the Hindu–Christian violence in Orissa.

Supreme Court Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan agreed to preside over a Wednesday hearing to consider the petition filed by Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack and Bhubaneshwar, the Press Trust of India said.

Cheenath's petition called for an investigation into the violence by the Central Bureau of Investigation, India's equivalent of the FBI.

The petitioner claimed that the Rapid Action Force has been deployed only in the cities and it has to be moved to the rural areas which have borne the maximum brunt of the unrest.

The petition also sought a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each for those whose property and houses were destroyed in the violence.