High Court Orders Fresh Consideration of 16-Year-Old Acid Attack Victim's Compensation Plea

In a significant judicial intervention bringing hope to a long-suffering acid attack survivor, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside an order that had rejected her compensation plea sixteen years after the horrific incident that changed her life forever. 

The survivor, who was only 26 years old when attacked with acid on November 19, 2009, suffered severe injuries that left her nearly 60 percent disabled and permanently blind in one eye. At the time of the attack, she was employed at an educational institution and pursuing an MBA degree. 

Justice Kuldeep Tiwari, who heard the case in January, found that the Panipat District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) had improperly dismissed her compensation application on September 7, 2020. The DLSA had rejected her claim on grounds that her trial was still pending—a reasoning that the High Court determined was inconsistent with the Haryana Compensation Scheme for Women Victims/Survivors of Sexual Assault/Other Crimes, 2020.

"The dismissal order dated September 7, 2020, is not drawn in consonance with the mandate enclosed in the Scheme of 2020… The compensation application was in fact required to be adjudicated by the Criminal Injury Compensation Board and not by the District Legal Services Authority," Justice Tiwari stated in his ruling. 

The court noted that according to clause 6 of the scheme, compensation applications in acid attack cases must be adjudicated by the Criminal Injury Compensation Board, not the DLSA. Furthermore, the scheme does not stipulate that compensation should be delayed until the conclusion of the trial. 

According to court documents, she was also a victim of sexual assault. The main accused in her case, a juvenile, was convicted in December 2015, while three other accused persons continue to face trial before a Delhi court. In the aftermath of the attack, her marriage broke down, leaving her to struggle independently for rehabilitation and medical treatment.

The survivor had initially filed a writ petition in 2014, seeking modification of government policies to extend retrospective benefits to acid attack victims like herself. She had also pleaded for free medical and surgical treatment and compensation to cover her extensive medical expenses.

During the pendency of her case, she received interim compensation of Rs 3,74,712, and her medical bills were reimbursed. However, her request for final compensation remained unaddressed until this recent ruling.

"Since the petitioner requires continuous follow-up treatment for her injuries, which left a scar not only on her skin but her soul as well, she is at liberty to file fresh claims before the authority concerned with proof of bills, which shall be considered by the latter in terms of the apposite scheme," the justice concluded.