The Allahabad High Court has been hearing the suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in connection with the hasty cremation of the 19-year-old Dalit girl, who was allegedly gang raped and murdered in September last year in Hathras.
In the previous hearing on September 16, the Lucknow bench of Justices Jaspreet Singh and Rajan Roy, has asked the government and victim’s counsels, along with the amicus curiae to apprise it of the various benefits the victim’s family is entitled to under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and Rules made thereunder.
Advocate Seema Kushwaha, representing the victim’s family, submitted to the court that even though a compensation of Rs. 25 lakhs have been provided to the family, other benefits and relief under Rule 12 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995, specifically sub-Rule (4) have not been extended to them.
According to Rule 12 (4), “District Magistrate or the Sub-Divisional Magistrate or any other Executive Magistrate shall make arrangements for providing immediate relief in cash or in kind or both to the victims of atrocity, their family members and dependents and such immediate relief shall also include food, water, clothing, shelter, medical aid, transport facilities and other essential items necessary for human beings.”
Kushwaha also brought to the court’s attention that the 1995 Rules lays down that a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe victim of gang rape and the family in case of murder, is eligible for pension of Rs. 1,000 per month, or employment to one member of the family of the deceased, or provision of agricultural land, a house, if necessary, by outright purchase.
The rules further allow the provision of utensils, rice, wheat, dals, pulses, etc., for a period of three months. In this regard, the counsel told the court, “a house and employment as envisaged under the aforesaid provisions have not been provided, as is mandatory, nor has the pension been provided.”
The court finally ordered, “Let the learned Amicus Curiae as also other counsels appearing for the victim’s family and for the State etc. address the Court on these aspects relating to the benefits to which the victim’s family is entitled under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and Rules made thereunder as also the benefits which have already been made available to them.”
Two cases were registered after the girl’s death on September 30, 2020. The Allahabad High Court has been hearing the suo motu case into the alleged forcible cremation of the girl in the middle of the night and the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe court in Hathras is adjudicating on the criminal proceedings of the alleged gang rape and murder.
The proceedings in the trial court were interrupted in March this year, after the family and the lawyer were threatened in open court by an intoxicated advocate named Tarun Hari Sharma. The family had urged the court to shift the trial outside Hathras but the High Court refused to transfer the trial.
The matter will be heard on September 24, where the high court is set to decide the various reliefs the family is entitled to.
The order may be read here:
Related:
Hathras case: Allahabad HC refuses to stay or transfer ongoing trial outside Hathras
Hathras case: Victim’s family and lawyers threatened inside court premises
State Counsel appears to justify the hasty cremation of Hathras Victim: HC