Saturday, 17 December 2022 | PNS | NAINITAL
The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the State government to pay Rs 35 lakh compensation to an acid attack victim while also paying for her medical procedures. The single bench of Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra issued this order in the case pertaining to an acid attack on a minor in 2014 in Udham Singh Nagar district.
According to the case details, the victim Gulnaz Khan had filed a petition in the HC regarding compensation. She had stated that she suffered the acid attack when she was a minor studying in class XII. A male whose advances she had repeatedly rejected attacked her with acid resulting in more than 60 per cent burns. She sustained burn injuries on her face, chest, torso and hands. Her right ear was fully damaged while the hearing in the other ear was reduced by 50 per cent. In 2016 the lower court sentenced the assailant to 10 years imprisonment and Rs 20,000 fine. In 2019 the HC had directed the victim be paid Rs 1.5 lakh to compensate for the medical treatment. However, the victim filed the petition in the HC seeking compensation from the State government seeking a sum of Rs 50 lakh.
During the final hearing the government counsel stated that the petitioner should have approached a separate forum instead of the HC and that the government paying the sought amount in one case would result in all persons seeking the same. The counsel for the petitioner, Snigdha Tiwari said that adequate compensation had not been paid to the acid attack victim whereas in political cases the government pays crores of rupees. She said that the victim should be compensated for her honour and the suffering she will undergo throughout her life due to the acid attack. Considering the arguments, the court directed the government to pay Rs 35 lakh compensation and bear the expenses of the victim’s medical treatment.
