VICTIM COMPENSATION SCHEME IN INDIA

Table of Contents

Who is a victim?

A victim is someone who has been harmed physically or emotionally, has had property damaged, or has lost money as a result of a crime.

Laws provided to victim compensation in India?

Under section 357 of the Criminal Procedure Code, provides relief to the victim for the loss that occurred to him even including rehabilitation of victims of violence which even include victims of rape. The government has established the Central Victim Compensation Fund (CVCF) with an initial corpus of Rs 200 crores to assist victims of rape, acid attacks, human trafficking, and women killed or injured in cross-border firing. Until now, the compensation amount paid by state governments ranged from Rs 10,000 to Rs 10 lakh. According to research done this scheme has been implemented by 24states and 7 Union territories have formulated this scheme.

The minimum amount of Compensation provided:

Acid attack-Rs 3 lakhs
Physical abuse of minor-Rs 2lakh
Rape-Rs 2lakh
Death-Rs 2lakh
Permanent Disability –Rs 2lakh

Note: On the other hand, if the victim is under the age of 14, the compensation sum will be increased by 50% over the amount stated above.[1]

Note: Every state government, in consultation with the federal government, must devise a plan to provide funds for compensation to victims and their dependents who have suffered loss or injury as a result of the crime and who require rehabilitation.

VICTIM COMPENSATION LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND TAXABILITY OF COMPENSATION:

Victim Compensation As A Statutory Right
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973- Section 250, 357, 357A, 357B, 357C and 358
- Probation of Offenders Act, 1958- Section 4 and 5
- Motor Vehicle Act, 1988-
- Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
- Central Victim Compensation Fund
- NALSA’S Compensation Scheme for Women/Survivor Sexual Assault/Other Crimes 2008

Victim Compensation as Constitutional Right

Article 21, 32, and 226 of the Constitution of India.[2]

Compensation that is not provided under which legislation?

Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955

Taxability of Compensation

The taxes become a major source for generating revenue for the government.
The tax is levied and collected for the collective welfare of tax-payers as well as non-taxpayers.
The fund for compensating the victims are often raised from either donation under various schemes and funds or through taxes collected. The deduction is available to the assessed under Section 80G of the Act for any donation made in such funds and schemes.
The Act is silent on the compensation received by the victim for loss or death that occurred due to heinous crimes.
The issue of whether compensation would fall within the ambit of income is debatable.
The Act provides the taxability of motor vehicle claims but does not provide any explicit provision for taxability of compensation in case of heinous crimes.
However, it has been ruled by the Income-tax Appellant tribunal, Mumbai Bench that compensation received by victim of sexual harassment is non-taxable in the famous tax- [3]

Period of Limitation: The period mostly ranges from 6 months to 1year but in the case of Delhi it has 3 years on the other hand in the case of Gujarat no limitation period is mentioned.

Appeal: From the order of the DLSA/SLSA, there is a provision for appeal that has been laid forth in the scheme. The SLSA is the authority to whom the appeal must be made within ninety days in all circumstances. In both Delhi and Gujarat, there is no recourse for appealing the authority’s decision. Let me highlight a point Madhya Pradesh has 2 levels of appeal, first to SLSA and the Government of Madhya Pradesh within 30days (According to Madhya Pradesh Victim Compensation Scheme, 2015)[4].

Case laws:

In Nipun Saxena v. Union of India, the Supreme Court decided that the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) should form a committee to draught Model Rules for Victim Compensation for Sexual Offenses and Acid Attacks. The Compensation Scheme for Women Victims/Survivors of Sexual Assault/Other Crimes — 2018 was then finalized by the Committee. A victim of gang rape will receive a minimum of Rs 5 lakhs in compensation and a maximum of Rs 10 lakhs under the scheme. Similarly, the victim of rape or unnatural sexual assault would be awarded a minimum of Rs 4 lakhs and a maximum of Rs 7 lakhs in damages. In the instance of facial disfigurement, victims of acid assaults would be compensated with a minimum of Rs 7 lakhs and a maximum of Rs 8 lakhs. The court then declared the scheme to be valid throughout India, and it is now the law of the land.[5]

State’s liability to compensate the victim
- Suresh and Another v. State of Haryana, (2015) 2 SCC 227 (India).
Payment of compensation on reduction of the term of imprisonment
- Sarup Singh v. the State of Haryana, (2009) 16 SCC 479 (India).
- Guru Basavaraj v. the State of Karnataka, (2012) 8 SCC 734 (India).

Conclusion:

The faith and trust of the victim in the criminal justice system have to be intact for the empowerment of the victim and assurance of their rights.

A prolonged criminal procedure for a trial is adopted which often provides room for the accused to escape the hands of the law. In this situation, it is important to provide compensation to the victim even if the accused is not proven guilty. It is the duty of the State to provide compensation to the victim for the loss and injury. Need to enact a Code on Victim rehabilitation, assistance, and compensation. The present legal framework needs to define provisions for interim compensation.