Allahabad High Court: Appreciating the efforts taken by the petitioner in highlighting the important issue of constitution of a Victim’s Compensation Fund under Section 357-A of CrPC for the enforcement of Rule 7(4) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Rules, 2012, the Division Bench of D.Y. Chandrachud, C.J. and M.K. Gupta, J., reiterated their Order dated 04.05.2015 directing the State Government of U.P. to include offences under Sections 7, 9 and 11 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act), covering the offences of sexual assault and sexual harassment, in the framework of Victim’s Compensation Fund, observing that there was no justification in excluding the above-mentioned Sections when already Sections 4, 6 and 14 of the POSCO Act, 2012 have been included under the ambit of the compensation scheme.
The petitioners, running an organization to fight against the vices of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children, through their counsel Raj Kumar, prayed for the issuance of a writ of Mandamus for the enforcement of Rule 7(4) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Rules, 2012. The respondents represented by P.S. Sisodia, informed the Court that the inclusion of six Sections, namely Sections 4, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 14 of the POCSO Act, 2012 within the purview of the U.P. Victims Compensation Scheme 2014, is to be placed the Cabinet for approval.
The Court on perusal of the affidavits presented by the respondents observed that the victims of the offences enumerated under Sections 7, 9 and 11 too require beneficial rehabilitation; therefore bringing them under the purview of the Victim’s Compensation Fund would prove to be a major step towards the rehabilitation of the victims. The Court further directed the State Government to stand by its statement in the affidavit and complete the process of approval and other processes within two months from the date of passing this Order. Guriya Swayam Sevi Sansthan v.
