Jharkhand High Court Suggests Amending Compensation Scheme For Male Acid Attack Victims, Enhances Survivor's Compensation To ₹15 Lakh

The Jharkhand High Court has observed that the State must consider revisiting the compensation payable to male acid attack victims under the Jharkhand Victim Compensation Scheme, 2016, noting the significant disparity between the compensation available to male victims and that available to female victims under the 2019 amendment scheme.A Division Bench of Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay and Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava made the observation while enhancing the compensation payable to an acid attack survivor from ₹3 lakh to ₹15 lakh.The Court was hearing an appeal filed against a Single Judge's order refusing to enhance compensation under the Victim Compensation Scheme on the ground that the appellant had already received ₹3 lakh through the District Legal Services Authority. At the outset, the Bench condoned a delay of 1374 days in filing the appeal. The appellant had submitted that he was an acid attack survivor who had suffered 45% disability and continued to undergo treatment and surgeries. It was argued that the limitation period had expired during the Covid-19 pandemic and that his medical condition had prevented him from pursuing legal remedies earlier. Accepting the explanation, the Court observed:"In cases of this nature delay in filing of the appeal/application should be considered with utmost sympathy and the Courts cannot be oblivious to the psychological distress and physical injury faced by a victim of acid attack. In the context of the present appeal the delay becomes insignificant in the face of the appellant having been traumatized for life."The case arose out of an incident that took place on May 31, 2012. According to the appellant, he was studying in his room when a dispute broke out between his cousin and another child from the neighbourhood. Following the altercation, a woman allegedly returned carrying a bottle containing a corrosive substance and threw it on the appellant's face. An FIR was subsequently registered at Chano Police Station.The appellant submitted that the attack caused devastating injuries. His face was severely disfigured, his eyelids were destroyed, both ears suffered extensive burns, the ear cartilage was lost and burn injuries were also caused to his neck, chest and left upper limb. It was argued that he had undergone several surgeries, including plastic surgeries, and had incurred treatment expenses exceeding ₹25 lakh. According to the appellant, he would continue to require medical treatment in the future.Before the Division Bench, the appellant challenged the adequacy of compensation awarded under the State scheme. Counsel for the appellant argued that the State's compensation framework discriminated between male and female acid attack victims. It was submitted that while the State had adopted a substantially enhanced compensation framework for female acid attack survivors through the 2019 amendment scheme, no corresponding enhancement had been made for male victims. It was further argued that acid attacks do not affect victims differently on the basis of gender and that the State's compensation policy failed to account for this reality. The appellant also contended that the Single Judge had wrongly confined the claim to the minimum amount mentioned in the 2016 scheme despite the severe physical, psychological and financial consequences of the attack.The Court examined the Jharkhand Victim Compensation (Amendment) Scheme, 2016 and noted that Clause 5 required compensation to be assessed on the basis of factors such as the loss suffered by the victim, treatment costs and rehabilitation needs. The Bench observed that Schedule-I of the scheme prescribed a minimum compensation of ₹3 lakh for acid attack victims. However, the scheme did not prescribe any upper limit. The Court therefore rejected the assumption that ₹3 lakh represented the maximum compensation payable under the scheme.The Bench observed that merely because the appellant had already received ₹3 lakh through the District Legal Services Authority, the Court was not prevented from granting a higher amount if the circumstances justified such relief. The Court then examined the Jharkhand Victim Compensation (Amendment) Scheme, 2019, which was introduced pursuant to the Supreme Court's decision in Nipun Saxena v. Union of India.The Bench noted that the 2019 scheme applies to female victims and provides significantly higher compensation for acid attack survivors. In cases involving facial disfigurement, the compensation ranges between ₹7 lakh and ₹8 lakh. Comparing the two schemes, the Court found a substantial disparity. The Bench observed:"A decade has passed since the Scheme of 2016 was unveiled and it is time to consider amendment to the amount of compensation fixed in various categories in the said scheme to commensurate with the Scheme of 2019, especially for male victims in order to obliterate the discrimination it accentuates."The Bench observed that the photographs placed on record demonstrated the...

Jharkhand High Court Suggests Amending Compensation Scheme For Male Acid Attack Victims, Enhances Survivor's Compensation To ₹15 Lakh

Rushil Batra

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Jharkhand High Court Suggests Amending Compensation Scheme For Male Acid Attack Victims, Enhances Survivor's Compensation To ₹15 Lakh

Rushil Batra

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Rushil Batra

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