Calcutta High Court asks Legal Services Authority to consider enhancing compensation to male acid attack victim

The Calcutta High Court recently ordered the West Bengal State Legal Services Authority (WBSLSA) to consider enhancing the compensation payable to a male acid attack victim [Surya Sankar Barik vs State of West Bengal]..The Court passed the order after observing that the West Bengal Victim Compensation Scheme is gender-neutral.Single-judge Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya noted that the provisions of the West Bengal Victim Compensation Scheme of 2017 defined victim as a person who has suffered loss or injury as a result of a crime and required rehabilitation."Thus, the 'victim' has been used in a gender-neutral manner both in the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and in the West Bengal Victim Compensation Scheme. The former goes on to use the masculine gender (which of course, includes feminine under the General Clauses Act), the latter uses the expression person," the Court observed in his order.Thus, the entitlement under the scheme of an attack victim who is not a woman cannot be doubted, the Court added. .The Court was hearing a plea by a male acid attack victim to grant him further compensation to meet the expenses of treating his acid attack injuries and disfigurement. .The bench noted that the victim had already been given ₹3 lakh as compensation by the WBSLSA. It, however, noted that ₹3 lakh was not the maximum amount under the scheme. "Hence, it is always within the framework of the Scheme to grant further compensation to the petitioner over and above Rs 3 lakh. The Scheme also does not restrict such payment to a one-time disbursal since it is a beneficial piece of legislation, it has to be given wide amplitude," the Court said..Further, it noted that the petitioner (victim) had produced sufficient material to prima facie indicate that even after spending the given compensation amount, he was in dire requirement of further funds to finance his follow-up treatments and ensure a meaningful reintegration into mainstream society..The judge also rejected the argument by the State that no further compensation was required to be given since the petitioner was working as a para-teacher, earning reasonably, and also had only 44 percent disability and not total disability. The State had also submitted that only the right eye of the petitioner was affected by the attack.."The meagre income of a para-teacher may not be sufficient to meet the upkeep of the petitioner and his family and over and above, to finance his treatment and reintegration in society in view of the peculiar trauma and fallout of an acid attack suffered by such victims. Hence, even if the petitioner has a job, it cannot be a fetter for him to claim further compensation under the victim compensation scheme for the damage suffered to him due to acid attack," the Court underscored. .Further, it also observed that a certain percentage of disability is also not a bar to seek further compensation under the scheme. The Victim Compensation Scheme itself does not distinguish between 100 percent disability and any lesser percentage insofar as an acid attack is concerned, the Court pointed out."The incalculable damage suffered due to acid attack on the face cannot be measured merely by the percentage of disability due to the incalculable loss suffered, which is obviously the rational basis of segregating original disability - permanent or partial from acid attack, in the scheme itself. Hence, the percentage of disability is also not a relevant factor," the Court added. The bench, therefore, ordered WBSLSA to consider the request of the petitioner for further compensation. .Advocate Jayanta Narayan Chatterjee, Supreem Naskar, Jayashree Patra and Pritha Sinha appeared for the petitioner (acid attack victim). Advocate Soma Chowdhury (Bandhu) appeared for the WBSLSA. Advocates Amitesh Banerjee and Tarak Karan represented the State. .[Read Judgment]