MADURAI
Pointing at the lack of awareness of Victim Compensation Scheme, a public interest litigation petition filed before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday sought a direction to the State to publicise the scheme.
The petitioner, A.V. Saha of Madurai, said the Victim Compensation Scheme, under which the fund was created to compensate victims of crimes or their families, was facing a major problem in implementation due to lack of awareness. With no publicity and non-availability of information, very few people were aware of the scheme and benefit through it, he said.
The petitioner said reported cases had showed that violence against women was constantly increasing. However, there was an alarming number of cases going unreported, particularly from rural areas, due to fear of backlash from the perpetrators of crimes. Rehabilitation of such victims was important, and the fund could be utilised for their treatment and rehabilitation, he said.
Under Section 357A of The Code of Criminal Procedure, it was mandatory for the States to allocate funds for the purpose of compensating victims of crimes. The 14th report of the Law Commission recommended State compensation to victims. With no awareness of the scheme, the fund was left underutilised. It was the duty of the Legal Services Authority to create awareness in this regard, he said.
The petitioner also sought a direction to the State to identify victims of crimes and bring them under the ambit of the scheme.
A Division Bench of Justices K.K. Sasidharan and P.D. Audikesavalu, which heard the PIL petition, sought a response from the State within two weeks and adjourned the case.
