New Delhi: Paving the way for grant of much needed financial support to poor victims of sexual assault and acid attack, the Supreme Court on Friday approved a scheme for mandatory grant of compensation to them under which a gangrape victim will be paid upto Rs 10 lakh.
A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said the scheme would be enforced in all states and Union Territories and directed the Centre to forward it to all governments. The scheme has been prepared by National Legal Services Authority(NALSA) in consultation with Centre.
The monetary relief granted under the “Compensation Scheme for Women Victims/Survivors of Sexual Assault/other crimes” is not linked with the trial in such cases and the victim can approach the State or District Legal Services Authority for compensation immediately after the incident. The scheme empowers legal services authority to take suo motu cognizance of cases of sexual assault and acid attack to grant interim relief to victims.