Calcutta High Court: In an appeal filed by State Legal Services Authority, West Bengal (appellant) regarding the computation of compensation payable to prisoners who have faced unnatural death, a division bench comprising of T.S. Sivagnanam,* CJ., and Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, J., mandated adherence to the West Bengal Correctional Services Prisoners (Unnatural Death Compensation) Scheme, 2019 for the computation and payment of compensation to prisoners who have suffered unnatural death. The Court granted the appellant the opportunity to seek a review of the decision in light of the provisions of the Scheme.
In the instant matter, an appeal was filed regarding the computation of compensation payable to prisoners who have faced unnatural death. The issue arose concerning the absence of consideration of the West Bengal Correctional Services Prisoners (Unnatural Death Compensation) Scheme, 2019 (Scheme), which provides for the minimum compensation payable under specific circumstances.
The Court acknowledged that the Scheme outlines the minimum limit of compensation to be provided upon the fulfilment of certain conditions specified therein. However, despite the existence of such a scheme, the Court noted that the scheme was not brought to the attention of the Single Bench during the disposal of the writ petition. The Court asserted that if compensation is to be awarded, it must adhere to the provisions outlined in the Scheme.
Consequently, the Court disposed of the appeal with liberty granted to the appellant, to file a review application before the Single Bench within 30 days from the date of the decision. The Court directed the Single Bench to consider the review application, if filed, in accordance with the law.
[State Legal Services Authority v. Balabinder Kaur, 2024 SCC OnLine Cal 2757, order dated 19-03-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Mr. Jayanta Narayan Chatterjee, Ms. Maumita Pandit, Mr. S. Naskar, Ms. Jayashree Patra, Ms. Ritushree Banerjee, Counsel for the Appellant
Mr. Manjit Singh, Counsel for the Respondents
