SC notice to Centre on plea seeking compensation for child crime ictims

The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Centre on a petition seeking implementation of the child victim compensation scheme for victims of crimes, including sexual abuse under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, addressing their psychological, emotional, educational and financial needs.

A Bench led by Justice BV Nagarathna on May 23 asked the Centre and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to respond to the petition filed by Just Rights for Children Alliance and 12 child victims and posted the matter for hearing on August 18.

On behalf of the petitioners, senior counsel Pragyan Pradip Sharma submitted that pursuant to a direction issued by the top court on a PIL on alarming rise in the number of reported child rape incidents, a scheme for ‘Compensation, Rehabilitation, Welfare and Education of POCSO victims, 2019’, has been drawn-up by the Supreme Court’s Registry.

However, thereafter there has been no follow-up on the said scheme. Besides, there has been no discussion or formalisation of the said scheme either by the Union of India or the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), Sharma pointed out.

The petitioners requested the top court to direct the respondents to frame, notify, and implement a dedicated ‘Victim Compensation Scheme’ exclusively for child victims of crime, including victims of sexual abuse, addressing their distinct psychological, emotional, educational, and financial rehabilitation needs.

They also wanted the court to direct the Centre and NALSA to immediately disburse compensation to the petitioners in strict compliance with the NALSA Scheme, 2018, and to order all states/UTs to uniformly implement the NALSA Scheme, 2018, “in its true letter and spirit”, until a dedicated Victim Compensation Scheme for child victims of crime is framed and notified by the respondents.

The petitioners submitted that the respondents must provide a comprehensive list of all POCSO victims within their jurisdiction, indicating if compensation had been paid in accordance with the NALSA Scheme, 2018.v