By Rajesh Pandey
While strongly reprimanding the Meerut district magistrate (DM) for showing a “lack of compassion” in delaying the compensation to an acid attack survivor, the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday asked the state government to issue a circular to all the district magistrates across the state to ensure that delays of such nature are not repeated in the future.
Strongly disapproving of the prolonged delay in the matter, the court ordered the DM concerned to forward the relevant documents to the Union Government in one week so that the concerned department could act on a war footing and pay additional compensation to the survivor/petitioner in six weeks.
Disposing of a writ petition filed by one Ranjeeta, a division bench comprising Justice Shekhar B Saraf and Justice Vipin Chandra Dixit took serious exception to the “lackadaisical” approach of the district magistrate, saying that the authorities are required to fulfill their primary duty to serve the people, especially ones who have been disabled by the egregious acts of violence.
“We would expect far more alacrity and empathy to be shown by the state officials,” the court further observed in its order.
The court was dealing with the writ petition filed by one Rajneeta, who claimed that she had been running from pillar to post since 2013 to receive the additional compensation of Rs.1,00,000/- payable to acid attack survivors under the Prime Minister National Relief Fund (PMNRF).
It was her case that while the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had written to the DM concerned in September 2024 to provide specific details concerning the petitioner and one more acid attack survivor, the officer sent no response from his end.
Terming the situation to be extremely alarming, the court issued a directive to the DM to ensure compliance with the letter sent by the Union Home Ministry within one week from the date.
“It is to be noted that the incident of acid attack had taken place in the year 2013 and certain compensation was received by the petitioner. However, it is clear from the records that the cost of the surgeries and medical assistance required by the petitioner is far above the compensation provided to the petitioner. In light of the same, it becomes imperative to direct the authorities to ensure that the additional compensation to be provided by the Union of India should be handed over to the petitioner at the earliest.”
The court also asked the Union Home Ministry to act on a war footing to compensate the survivor/petitioner.
In December 2013, the petitioner – Rajneeta suffered severe burns to her eyes, chest, neck, and face during a road construction dispute, resulting in a hundred precedent disability.
