The Delhi High Court on Thursday, while passing the order in a writ petition, raised an important issue on whether the compensation under the Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme, 2018 can be availed by the legal heirs of the deceased, who was an ordinary resident of Delhi, but died outside the jurisdiction of NCT of Delhi.
The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Rekha Palli said, “Show me the policy, does it say that he has to be a resident of Delhi or death has to be in Delhi? I don’t know, Mr Arora, it is a welfare scheme, whether it has to be interpreted in that manner”.
Mr Kawaljeet Arora, Chair Secretary DSLSA, who appeared on behalf of the respondent, made the submission that so far as Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme is concerned, admittedly, there is no provision with respect to that, but the Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme owes its genesis to Section 357a of CRPC, which talks about the jurisdiction, where the offence has taken place.
Justice Palli remarked: “It should be considered, stating that prima facie when I looked at it, this must be considered. You both look at it if there is any judgement from any state, it has to be within, then we will deal with it. It is a welfare scheme”.
The petitioner is stated to be a young boy aged about 20 years, who is pursuing B Com (H) and has two younger brothers, who are still school-going kids, along with his mother, have been gravely traumatised by the death of their father, which took place on September 7, 20 and was registered at the Badalpur Police Station, Gautam Buddh Nagar, UP.
The incident left a scar on them not only mentally, but they are also facing financial crunch, as the father of the petitioner was the sole bread-winner of the family, who used to support his family by driving his self-owned taxi. The petitioner moved an application dated March 1, 21 before the DSLSA, seeking compensation under the aforementioned scheme.
The plea, filed by Advocate Tara Narula, said that the petitioner perfectly fell under the ambit of ‘victim’ under Clause 2(k) as a legal heir of the deceased, also as a person, who has suffered loss or injury as a result of the offence and hence, requires compensation for rehabilitation for himself and his family.
The plea further noted that qua Clause 4 of the scheme, a victim/dependant is rightfully eligible for the grant of compensation, on the condition precedent, that the victims should not have availed type compensation for the loss under any other subsequent scheme of the Central Government or any State Government.
However, the DSLSA had refused to entertain the petitioner’s application and forwarded it to the UP State Legal Services Authority on the ground that the offence had occurred in the territorial limits of UP.
The order said that the petition raises an important issue, as to whether compensation under the Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme 2018 can be claimed by the legal heirs of a deceased, who though was an ordinary resident of Delhi, but lost his life on account of an offence committed outside the jurisdiction of NCT of Delhi.
The Counsel for the petitioner made submissions that under the aforesaid scheme, there is no bar that a compensation will not be payable to the dependents and heirs of a person who was an ordinary resident of Delhi even though the offence leading to his demise was committed outside the NCT of Delhi.
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The Court issued notice to Kawaljeet Arora, Secretary of DSLSA, who accepted it on behalf of the respondent. The respondent prayed for and was subsequently granted four weeks time to file counter affidavit, rejoinder thereto, to be filed within two weeks. The matter is listed for August 25.