(a) to (e): Section 357 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that a Trial Court, when passing Judgment, may order the whole or any part of the fine recovered to be utilized inter-alia for payment of compensation to the persons who have suffered an injury due to the acts of the convict. In 2009, with the introduction of Section 357A in the CrPC, the concept of rehabilitative compensation paid by the State emerged in the criminal justice system of India. Section 357A was incorporated to specifically provide for compensation to victims and their family members. The provision also mandated every State Government to frame “a scheme for providing funds for the purpose of compensation to the victim or his dependents who have suffered loss or injury as a result of the crime and who, require rehabilitation.”
Pursuant to the above-said statutory incorporation, most of the States have formulated their respective Victim Compensation Schemes. Compensation can be granted under the schemes enacted under section 357A CrPC in four scenarios: (i) in case of Conviction, (ii) in case of Acquitta, (iii) when accused is discharged, and (iv) when the offender is neither traced nor identified.
The process of Victim Compensation is set into motion through two methods. Firstly, the trial court is empowered to make recommendation to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) or State Legal Services Authority (SLSA), as the case may be, to decide quantum of compensation to be awarded under the scheme framed by the State Government. The trial court can also make a recommendation in case it is satisfied that the compensation awarded under section 357 of CrPC is not adequate for rehabilitation. Secondly, in cases where the offender is neither traced nor identified, but the victim is identified, the victim and his dependents may make an application to the DLSA or SLSA for award of compensation. On receiving such an application, the DLSA or SLSA has to conduct an enquiry and to award adequate compensation within two months.
Pursuant to the directions of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in W.P. (C) No. 565/2012, a committee was set up to prepare Model Rules for Victim Compensation for sexual offences and acid attacks. The said Committee formulated the Compensation Scheme for Women Victims/ Survivors of Sexual Assault/ other crimes of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). The scheme provides for a Women Victim Compensation Fund which is a segregated fund for disbursement for women victim, out of State Victim Compensation Fund and Central Fund. The Central Fund means the contribution received from Central Victim Compensation Fund (CVCF) Scheme, 2015. Many of the State Governments have revised their existing Victim Compensation Schemes in accordance with the NALSA’s scheme. Central Government has provided one time grant-in-aid of Rs. 200 Crores under Central Victim Compensation Fund (CVCF) to States / UTs under “Nirbhaya Fund” to supplement their respective Victim Compensation Funds.
The method of awarding and disbursing the compensation differs as per the Schemes of different States. While the LSAs mostly have an active role in determination of compensation, the actual disbursal of the awarded compensation depends on the funds maintained and released by the State Governments. The details indicating the number of the victims provided compensation under the scheme and applications pending are at Annexure.
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ANNEXURE
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART OF THE LOK SABHA UN- STARRED QUESTION NO. 4852 FOR ANSWER ON 01.04.2022 ASKED BY SHRI RAJENDRA AGRAWAL, SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL, SHRI L.S. TEJASVI SURYA, SHRIMATI APARAJITA SARANGI, SHRI KESINENI SRINIVAS, SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY, SHRI ABDUL KHALEQUE, SHRI SANJAY BHATIA REGARDING ‘COMPENSATION SCHEME FOR WOMEN VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT’
Details of Applications received, compensation awarded and amount disbursed during the year, 2020
(Amount in Rs.)
S. No. Name of SLSA Total No. of Applications received including matters referred by the Courts Number of applications disposed Compensation awarded Amount disbursed
Women others
Sexual Acid attacks
offences
1 Andhra Pradesh 32 33 68,00,000 8,00,000 42,50,000 66,00,000
2 Arunachal Pradesh 30 22 18,70,000 0 11,20,000 50,00,000
3 Assam 566 364 1,07,80,616 8,50,000 2,76,85,132 7,51,83,000
4 Bihar 776 184 2,47,35,000 27,00,000 2,98,97,000 4,45,32,000
5 Chhattisgarh 580 481 3,73,59,022 1,00,000 77,06,017 2,62,93,000
6 Goa 0 0 ? 0 0 0 0
7 Gujarat 1603 526 8,62,14,000 24,00,000 2,01,13,836 10,75,68,836
8 Haryana 210 229 5,13,40,000 11,40,000 1,29,15,000 9,17,89,000
9 Himachal Pradesh 210 204 2,71,57,500 25,00,000 5,75,000 2,85,12,500
10 Jammu & Kashmir 50 50 96,65,000 0 6,00,000 1,02,65,000
11 Jharkhand 420 158 3,48,45,000 1,00,000 1,25,20,000 2,73,45,000
12 Karnataka 414 166 2,72,10,000 8,80,000 86,35,000 3,67,25,000
13 Kerala 292 132 1,92,20,000 0 2,50,20,000 4,42,40,000
14 Madhya Pradesh 595 467 4,82,68,200 4,50,000 3,11,59,500 6,79,95,200
15 Maharashtra 147 79 35,95,000 1,00,000 58,49,000 ? 60,78,000
16 Manipur 37 23 0 0 0 0
17 Meghalaya 194 58 55,50,000 0 11,00,000 66,50,000
18 Mizoram 48 0 0 0 0 0
19 Nagaland 35 0 0 0 0 0
20 Odisha 1339 818 12,47,10,000 0 2,50,05,000 11,63,33,500
21 Punjab 297 235 39,51,007 26,65,003 14,00,063 3,00,23,000
22 Rajasthan 805 1238 10,26,79,000 4,50,000 7,23,92,500 17,55,21,500
23 Sikkim 51 48 69,75,000 0 0 69,75,000
24 Telangana 19 19 20,56,965 0 21,00,000 41,56,965
25 Tamil Nadu 465 157 86,27,000 0 1,47,99,000 1,93,83,000
26 Tripura 29 42 87,75,000 0 25,000 45,00,000
27 Uttar Pradesh 49 49 38,35,000 4,95,000 27,50,000 70,80,000
28 Uttarakhand 34 40 54,65,000 0 6,75,000 53,90,000
29 West Bengal 369 244 2,90,80,000 40,50,000 35,00,000 2,36,50,000
30 Chandigarh UT 20 9 14,00,000 0 30,40,000 12,54,000
31 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 2 2 4,00,000 0 0 4,00,000
32 Daman & Diu 3 3 8,35,000 0 0 8,35,000
33 Delhi 1393 1453 6,97,37,000 36,75,000 38,89,84,500 46,23,96,500
34 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0 0 0
35 Puducherry 14 6 30,00,000 0 0 20,50,000
36 TOTAL 11128 7539 76,61,35,310 2,33,55,003 70,38,16,548 1,44,47,25,001
Details of Applications received, compensation awarded and amount disbursed during the year, 2021
( Amount in Rs.)
Name of SLSA Applications received Pending applications as on 01.01.2021 Number of applications disposed Compensation awarded
Women Others
Sexual offences Acid attacks
Application referred by the Court Application filed by Victims and forwarded/ referred by Police/Admn./ Other Agencies For Interim Disposal For final Disposal No. of Victims Amount No. of Victims Amount No. of Victims Amount
Andhra Pradesh 72 12 49 58 32 75 1,10,55,000 2 4,00,000 33 6,25,70,007
Arunachal Pradesh 5 40 19 1 8 1 5,00,000 - 0 13 63,00,000
Assam 273 390 659 177 312 238 3,55,57,500 8 16,50,000 222 5,29,62,500
Bihar 504 574 720 353 389 503 11,47,74,500 31 92,50,000 135 2,94,75,000
Chhattisgarh 633 1,304 961 510 620 641 12,29,80,795 - 0 137 1,91,74,000
Goa 4 20 - - 20 3 6,50,000
Gujarat 564 880 1,246 922 274 789 14,50,75,000 6 6,40,000 214 3,66,04,786
Haryana 279 44 53 101 241 311 8,27,95,000 4 15,00,000 52 89,25,000
Himachal Pradesh 59 117 45 141 35 122 1,87,75,000 4 19,00,000 44 31,15,000
Jharkhand 237 243 991 89 399 240 7,67,63,500 3 10,00,000 184 3,28,47,000
Karnataka 289 198 1,469 42 815 225 5,95,08,000 1 6,00,000 109 2,84,72,000
Kerala 218 48 453 28 81 58 1,81,40,000 7 7,00,000 41 1,16,76,000
Madhya Pradesh 467 354 673 69 856 454 5,62,06,800 16 14,75,000 204 2,36,31,500
Maharashtra 112 3,458 5,193 1,758 1,591 1,558 13,24,22,000 7 13,00,000 190 1,23,29,500
Manipur 20 7 11 5 6 11 73,50,000 - 0 3 15,00,000
Meghalaya 82 76 84 35 17 44 63,25,000 - 0 8 9,50,000
Mizoram 22 12 34 - - 25 1,12,50,000 - 0 9 5,85,000
Nagaland 3 24 27 - 29 - 0 - 0 - 0
Odisha 328 1,630 2,095 1,609 414 1,037 50,49,69,000 12 28,25,000 310 8,00,35,000
Punjab 174 288 282 75 305 149 4,95,50,500 11 24,85,793 168 2,21,08,334
Rajasthan 886 997 511 935 700 680 13,96,55,000 3 3,67,000 740 8,02,06,000
Sikkim 60 2 - 48 14 5 8,70,000 - 0 57 46,90,000
Tamil Nadu 81 572 891 95 155 42 71,70,000 16 12,02,000 140 1,58,63,346
Telangana 81 8 33 10 41 39 1,02,60,000 2 3,00,000 8 29,31,000
Tripura 19 29 34 1 57 52 1,37,25,000 1 5,00,000 5 4,00,000
Uttar Pradesh 234 212 892 31 206 67 1,05,60,000 2 4,00,000 41 65,84,250
Uttarakhand 90 39 39 28 74 94 1,79,40,500 1 1,70,000 17 25,33,000
West Bengal 140 273 413 87 139 134 21,40,80,000 20 57,50,000 35 77,75,000
A & N Islands 3 15 - - - 18 6,00,000 - 0 - 0
Chandigarh 9 21 16 2 9 9 30,00,000 - 0 2 13,00,000
D & N Haveli 1 2 1 - 2 2 8,00,000 - 0 - 0
Daman & Diu 4 - - - 4 3 4,00,000 - 0 1 1,00,000
Delhi 1,162 748 1,245 621 985 565 8,02,94,071 4 7,00,000 1,088 21,92,30,829
Jammu & Kashmir 16 33 29 20 17 38,37,500 1 2,00,000 2 2,50,000
Lakshadweep - - - - - - 0 - 0 - 0
Ladakh 1 1 - - 1 0 - 0 1 0
Puducherry 8 - 7 - 2 8 29,50,000 - 0 - 0
Total 7,139 12,671 19,176 7,851 8,832 8,220 1,96,07,89,666 162 3,53,14,793 4,213 77,51,24,052
Note: Data prior to 2020 is not available.
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