- (1.) THIS writ petition has been filed in the public interest by an organization which is active in the fight against human trafficking, especially forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation of minor girls and children in the State of Uttar Pradesh. The relief which has been sought is a mandamus for the enforcement of Rule 7 (4) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Rules 2012(Rules) by constituting a Victims Compensation Fund under Section 357 -A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
(2.) RULE 7 (4) of the Rules reads as follows: "7. Compensation - (1) The Special Court may, in appropriate cases, on its own or on an application filed by or on behalf of the child, pass an order for interim compensation to meet the immediate needs of the child for relief or rehabilitation at any stage after registration of the First Information Report. Such interim compensation paid to the child shall be adjusted against the final compensation, if any. (2) The Special Court may, on its own or on an application filed by or on behalf of the victim, recommend the award of compensation where the accused is convicted, or where the case ends in acquittal or discharge, or the accused is not traced or identified, and in the opinion of the Special Court the child has suffered loss or injury as a result of that offence. (3) Where the Special Court, under sub -section (8) of Section 33 of the Act read with sub -sections (2) and (3) of Section 357A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, makes a direction for the award of compensation to the victim, it shall take into account all relevant factors relating to the loss or injury caused to the victim, including the following: - (i) type of abuse, gravity of the offence and the severity of the mental or physical harm or injury suffered by the child; (ii) the expenditure incurred or likely to be incurred on his medical treatment for physical and/or mental health; (iii) loss of educational opportunity as a consequence of the offence, including absence from school due to mental trauma, bodily injury, medical treatment, investigation and trial of the offence, or any other reason; (iv) loss of employment as a result of the offence, including absence from place of employment due to mental trauma, bodily injury, medical treatment, investigation and trial of the offences, or any other reason; (v) the relationship of the child to the offender, if any; (vi) whether the abuse was a single isolated incidence or whether the abuse took place over a period of time; (vii) whether the child became pregnant as a result of the offence; (viii) whether the child contracted a sexually transmitted disease (STD) as a result of the offence; (ix) whether the child contracted Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) as a result of the offence; (x) any disability suffered by the child as a result of the offence; (xi) financial condition of the child against whom the offence has been committed so as to determine his need for rehabilitation; (xii) any other factor that the Special Court may consider to be relevant. (4) The compensation awarded by the Special Court is to be paid by the State Government from the Victims Compensation Fund or other scheme or fund established by it for the purposes of compensating and rehabilitating victims under section 357A of the Code of Criminal Procedure or any other laws for the time being in force, or, where such fund or scheme does not exist, by the State Government."
(3.) IN response to the direction of the Court, the Principal Secretary (Home) filed a counter affidavit stating that in implementation of the provisions of Rule 7(4), the State Government had notified a Victims Compensation Fund and the Governor had notified the Uttar Pradesh Rani Laxmibai Mahila Samman Kosh Niyamawali, 2015 on 6 February 2015. Accordingly, a Government Order was issued on 16 April 2015 to all the District Magistrates, the Senior Superintendents of Police and Superintendents of Police for the implementation of Rule 7(4). It was envisaged that the review of offences/compensation in different districts be conducted in the monthly meeting of the District Monitoring Committees together with the District Judge. The State Government has allocated a budget of Rs.2 crores by a Government Order dated 1 April 2015 for the financial year 2015 -16. The fund is to be operated by the Secretary of the State Legal Services Authority and a decision was taken to transfer the fund at a meeting held on 16 April 2015 by the Principal Secretary (Home). When the petition came up before this Court for further hearing on 4 May 2015, this Court observed that there was a glaring lapse in defining the offences covered by the Victims Compensation Fund. This was because only offences under Sections 4, 6 and 14 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012(Act) were covered. Offences of sexual assault under Section 7 (punishable under Section 8), of aggravated sexual assault under Section 9 (punishable under Section 10) and of sexual harassment under Section 11 (punishable under Section 12) were not covered by the Victims Compensation Fund. By an order dated 4 May 2015, we observed whether this was an inadvertent mistake or otherwise, this should be rectified at the earliest. The State Government was directed to inform the Court of the remedial steps which have been taken to rectify this glaring omission so as to bring the offences under Sections 7, 9 and 11 of the Act within the purview of the Victims Compensation Fund.;