The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra government to explain the “discrimination” in a rule under the Maharashtra Victim Compensation which prohibits State and Central employees from claiming victim compensation in a case of murder.
The bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan was hearing a petition filed by Nashik residents, whose only son had been murdered in 2012. Advocate Rameshwar Gite representing the Nashik residents Sham Bhavsar and his wife Sunita submitted that while the couple lost their only son, they did not even get justice as the victim was killed inside the prison.
“They had then applied for compensation however, the Magistrate Court as well as the Sessions Court rejected it solely on the ground that Sunita was a State government employee and so the couple was not entitled for compensation”, submitted Gite.
Sham Bhavsar runs a roadside kiosk in Nashik while his wife Sunita works as a peon in NBT Law College. Their son Sushil was murdered by one Vishal Choudhri on January 15, 2012. The accused was arrested by the Bhadrakali police and the trial commenced against him in Nashik Sessions Court.
However, in October 2013, due to an altercation that took place inside the Nashik Central prison, Choudhri was killed by another inmate. After that, the trial against the accused abated.
Challenging a rule, Gite submitted that rule 4(h) of the Maharashtra Victim Compensation Scheme 2014 was contrary to section 357A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) as also violative of fundamental rights of petitioners under Article 14 and under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
The Compensation scheme provides for Rs 2 lakh to families of murdered individuals as a result of a crime. Section 357A of CrPC too stated that every State Government in co-ordination with the Central Government has to prepare 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.
However, the Maharashtra government’s compensation rules section 4(h) states that the employees of the Central or State Government, Boards, Corporations and Public Undertakings and income tax payees would not be eligible for compensation under this scheme.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the bench asked Additional Public Prosecutor Prajakta Shinde “What kind of rationale is this? We want someone from the department in all fairness to say why this discrimination”.
The bench also directed Gite to find out about the position in other states regarding this compensation scheme to government employees.
The bench will further hear the petition on August 1.
Source Agencies
