The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has directed the State government to bestow special attention on allocating sufficient funds to Kerala State Legal Services Authority(KELSA) for performing its obligations under the victim compensation scheme.
The directive came on a petition filed by D.B. Binu, president, RTI of Kerala. According to him, he had received a letter from the father of a minor girl, rape survivor, who failed to get compensation of ₹8 lakh awarded under the victim compensation scheme because of the fund crunch faced by KELSA. The petitioner pointed out that KELSA badly needs ₹2.5 crore for disbursing compensation to various parties. KELSA was unable to discharge its statutory obligations because of the non-allocation of funds. The failure to provide sufficient funds amounted to a human rights violation, he argued.
While issuing the directive, P. Mohanadas, member, SHRC, observed it was significant to note that no amount of money could restore the dignity and confidence that the accused had taken away from the victim. Whatever be the amount of compensation, it would not erase the trauma and grief she had suffered. The delay in granting compensation was nothing but a human rights violation.
Disregard for SC orders
Numerous victims were approaching KELSA for compensation. The delay in allotting sufficient funds to KELSA was tantamount to derailing the objective of the amended provision of the Criminal Procedure Code. It appeared that there was a continuous disregard for the directives of the Supreme Court on the issue.
When the petition came up for hearing, the government had submitted that adequate fund was allotted to KELSA to meet the expenditure under the victim compensation scheme. However, KELSA took the stand that the government had implemented the scheme in 2017 and the compensation fund was operated by KELSA. For the current financial year only ₹3,000 was allocated for it in the budget. KELSA had requested the government to allot ₹2.5 crore, but it got only ₹50 lakh in September 2018. The amount allotted was not sufficient to clear pending bills. As a result, KELSA was unable to meet the mandate of Section 357(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code by ensuring prompt and immediate payment of compensation to the victims and dependants, it contended.
