New Delhi, Jul 4 (IANS): The Delhi High Court Monday asked the union home ministry to pay compensation of Rs.15 lakh each to the families of two businessmen over 14 years after they were killed by a police team in a staged shootout here.

Justice S. Muralidhar of the Delhi High Court said: "Compensation of Rs.15 lakh will be awarded to each of the families. However, the amount shall be distributed equally among the widow and the children."

According to Muralidhar, as Delhi Police is under the ministry of home affairs of the central government, the compensation should be paid by the ministry.

"The encounter had taken place in Connaught Place, which is under the jurisdiction of the Delhi government, but Delhi Police being under the ministry of home affairs, the compensation would be borne by the ministry," said the judge.

Businessmen Pradeep Goel and Jagjit Singh were gunned down March 31, 1997 by the now-suspended Assistant Commissioner of Police S.S. Rathi and nine other policemen in central Delhi's business and shopping hub Connaught Place.

The case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which indicted the entire 10-member police team and prosecuted it for the killings.

The "callous" action of the police was aimed at getting accelerated promotions by claiming to have killed two gangsters, the CBI alleged. Rathi was, at that time, considered an "encounter specialist" of the Delhi Police - a term used for those frequently engaged in shootouts with criminals.

CBI also accused Rathi of feeding false information to senior police officers to claim innocence.