Annoyed with the government’s reply that more than a thousand victims of offences against women could not be compensated as per Manodhairya scheme due to lack of funds, the Bombay high court on Friday
Annoyed with the government’s reply that more than a thousand victims of offences against women could not be compensated as per Manodhairya scheme due to lack of funds, the Bombay high court on Friday directed the government of Maharashtra to disburse compensation in the remaining cases within a month.
The court also directed the government to submit details of the number of cases pertaining to offences against women lodged in the state and the number of cases sent to a committee for approval of compensation to the victim under the Manodhairya scheme.
During hearing the state informed the court that from October 2013 to March 2016, a total of 4,809 cases pertaining to offences against women were registered in the state, of which the committee for compensation has approved 3,714.
The court directed the government to compensate the remaining victims within a month when the state said that of the 3,714, compensation has been given in 1,999 cases while in the remaining ones, money would be disbursed after funds are allocated.
The court wondered what purpose would be served if the government has come up with a scheme but is not implementing it. The Manodhairya scheme envisages disbursement of compensation and rehabilitation of rape survivors and victims of other offences against women, like acid attack.
Since the data till March 2016 was submitted to court, the judges asked the government to submit a chart giving details of the number of FIRs lodged from June 30, 2016, till date pertaining to offences against women and how many cases have been sent to the government-appointed committee for approval of compensation. The court directed the government to submit details pertaining to Mumbai within three weeks and the rest of the state within six weeks.
The division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Amjad Sayed issued these directions while hearing a public interest litigation filed by the NGO ‘Forum Against Oppression of Women’. The NGO in the PIL has highlighted inordinate delay in implementing the scheme for compensating and rehabilitating rape survivors, as envisaged in the Supreme Court’s decision of 1994.
