NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Union government on a plea alleging denial of adequate compensation of victims of sexual violence in absence of sufficient conformity to the 2018 scheme framed by the National Legal Services Authority.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala sought a response from the Centre and Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi Legal Services Authority within four weeks on a plea filed by 'Social Action Forum for Manav Adhikar' through its convenor Yogita Bhayana.
The petition filed through advocate Jyotika Kalra sought to highlight the different and labyrinthine, cumbersome and arduous procedures being followed by UP, MP, Bihar and Delhi SLSA because of which victims have not been able to avail their entitlement under the Victim Compensation Scheme.
It contended in many states mandatory reporting of cases to legal services authority was not being done as mandated under the provision of the NALSA scheme.
The plea also pointed out in there was no mention of POCSO in NALSA scheme.
"Different schemes of States are whittling down the spirit with which S.357-A Cr.P.C. was inserted. And because the eligibility clause for compensation is different in different states. E.g. Bihar, Delhi require the victim to fill Form-I which not only includes basic information on name/address of the Applicant/Victim(s) or his/her/their Dependents but also requires to enclose Medical Report/Death Certificate/PM Report which is usually not available with the victim/family belonging to a deprived economic status," it said.
In cases where the death has taken place out of the jurisdiction of the police station, it is an arduous task to procure death certificate.
"Section 357A was added to the CR.P.C. as an amendment to address the flaws of Section 357 and for the first time the code recognised the need for payment of compensation even if the accused was not found or convicted. However different states are implementing their State specific scheme in different ways that is total violation of the same, including to wait for trial to be over before providing compensation," the plea said.
The petitioner said, for the victim, every day is critical, they need money even for the day to day necessities, for the treatment and also for pursuing the matter with the police.
In the event of compensation not being swiftly disbursed, the victim/family are at risk of being subject to threat by accused/family and her life and liberty are always endangered. Due to vulnerability in terms of poverty there is pressure from accused/family to compromise the matter and offer of money and show of muscle power to change statement.
The petitioner made the following prayers:
* Inquiry should be completed expeditiously and not exceeding 60 days, there should be Immediate/Time Bound Disbursal of Compensation/ Interim Financial Relief as per Rule 9 of NALSA Scheme of 2018.
* All the State Government and the Administrations of Union Territories should give wide publicity to the Scheme and implement scheme in letter and spirit, including uniformity in procedures and amount of compensation as ordered in order dt 25.07.2018 passed in WP 565/2012, the Govt. of India.
* Sexual Assault Victims as defined in Rule 1(o) of NALSA Scheme of 2018 should include offences under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
* There should be Mandatory Reporting of FIRs by Police to SLSA or DLSA as required in Rule 5 of NALSA Scheme of 2018.
* Application for compensation should allowed to be filed by victim or her dependents or her guardian under section 357 A (4) of Cr.P.C and Rule 5 of NALSA scheme of 2018.
* All the States and UTs should follow the model NALSA Scheme of 2018.
* A standardised monitoring system to ensure that procedures are simple and Applications decided in time bound manner at SLSA & DLSA.
