Awarded Rs 30,000, acid attack survivor fought for due relief; Delhi HC rules in her favour

Six years since the incident, and five years since she challenged the DSLSA’s order, the HC has ruled in her favour.

The HC has held that Rs 3 lakh is the minimum amount to be paid to acid attack victims with less than 50% injuries, under the Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme, while revising the Rs 30,000 interim compensation paid by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

Now bed-ridden at her residence in Naraina after being diagnosed with brain tuberculosis eight months ago, the 66-year-old told The Indian Express over a phone call that the HC’s award of compensation will “at least help in my treatment”.

“It took so long that I filed a case after the authorities did not hear my grievance. Now I’m bedridden. The advocate I had engaged initially would not appear before the court and the case would not move. Then I engaged another lawyer… and after my brain tuberculosis diagnosis, I requested them to pursue the case so my treatment could go on uninterrupted. The compensation award will be of significant help as I’ve no income source,” said the woman, who used to run a private clinic before retiring.

An FIR was registered following the incident and according to the petitioner, the criminal case continues to be before a trial court without a verdict.

What happened over the years

In October 2018, the woman sent a representation to the Southwest Delhi district magistrate seeking disbursement of interim compensation as per the Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme, 2015, to the tune of Rs 3 lakh. With no response or action, she approached the HC.

While the petition was pending, the DSLSA constituted a Criminal Injuries Compensation Board — comprising the district magistrate, district and sessions judge, assistant commissioner of police, chief district medical officer, and medical professionals among other officials. Ultimately on July 15, 2019, the DSLSA decided to award her Rs 30,000 as interim compensation.

Challenging this before the HC, the woman, through her advocate Sanjana Srikumar, submitted that the DSLSA does not have the authority to award compensation less than the mandatory minimum in the scheme, and the only discretion available to the authorities is on awarding an amount between Rs 3 lakh and 5 lakh.

What the court said

In an order on November 6, Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju ruled that none of the clauses of the compensation scheme suggest DSLSA “has any discretion to determine the scale of quantum of compensation in acid attack cases” and “the only discretion that is culled out is declining the compensation altogether”.

Accepting the petitioner’s contention, the court noted the scheme provides that a minimum compensation of Rs 3 lakh be paid to victims of an acid attack where there is less than 50% injury. “It has been averred that acid attack victims cannot be treated the same as victims of other injuries. We find merit in this contention upon an examination of judgments cited and the Scheme and its Schedule…,” the order records.

“The Schedule to the Scheme sets out that for acid attack victims, where injuries are less than 50%, a minimum of Rs 3 lakh is payable and a maximum of Rs 5 lakh. This means that Respondent No.4 (DSLSA) is at liberty to exercise its discretion to examine what amount is to be paid — provided the amount is between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh. This Court finds that such an interpretation would be the correct interpretation of the legislative intent of the Scheme, especially since it sets out a separate quantification for different types of acid attacks… Once a decision has been made to award compensation, it cannot be arbitrarily reduced below the minimum threshold as has been provided for,” the court reasoned.