MADURAI: The Madras High Court Bench here has directed a victim of acid attack to approach the District Legal Services Authority concerned, seeking compensation under Victim Compensation Scheme (VCS) notified by the State Government in November 2013 in accordance with a Central amendment made to the Code of Criminal Procedure in 2008, thereby introducing Section 357A, which came into force in December 2009.
Disposing of a writ petition filed by a mother of three, who had lost vision in both eyes after a woman poured acid on her face during a quarrel in 2012, Justice V. Bharathidasan directed the victim to make an application for compensation before the DLSA at Paramakudi in Ramanathapuram district within three weeks. The DLSA, in turn, was ordered to pass orders recommending compensation under the VCS within 12 weeks thereafter.
The writ petitioner, Muthulakshmi, said Paramakudi Town Police had completed the investigation in the case and laid a charge sheet against the aggressor, T. Vennila, under Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 294b (uttering obscene words) of the Indian Penal Code.
In the meantime, she had approached the court with the present writ petition seeking compensation from the State since she had reportedly spent around Rs. 7 lakh for grafting and reconstruction surgery apart from attempts made to restore vision in her eyes until two reputed eye hospitals in Madurai and in Chennai conclusively declared that there was no chance for that.
The petitioner recalled that the Supreme Court had on April 10, 2015 ordered that a minimum compensation of Rs. 3 lakh should be paid by all States and Union Territories to acid attack victims besides provision of free treatment to them in government as well as private hospitals.
“We therefore issue a direction that the State Governments/ Union Territories should seriously discuss and take up the matter with all the private hospitals in their respective State/ Union Territory to the effect that the private hospitals should not refuse treatment to victims of acid attack and that full treatment should be provided to such victims including medicines, food, bedding and reconstructive surgeries,” the apex court had said.
