Has victim compensation fund been set up? HC asks Delhi govt

New Delhi, Jul 22: The Delhi High Court today asked the city government to inform it in 10 days whether it has established a compensation fund for victims of crime against women and if not, then why.

A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva directed the Delhi government to file an affidavit within 10 days indicating "whether victim compensation fund has been established and if not, why not."

The court passed the order after Dharmesh Sharma, Member Secretary, Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA), told the bench that the fund has not yet been created though the government had promised to set it up by March 31.

The order came on a PIL initiated by the court after the December 16 gangrape incident in which it has been giving directions on the issues of appointing more cops, additional forensic labs and setting up of a victim compensation fund.

The court, meanwhile, in a PIL on the issue of eveteasing of women in the capital, issued notices to the departments of Health as well as Women and Child Development of the city government and sought their reply on the draft standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the one-stop centres (OSCs).

The two departments were made parties in the matter on the request of DSLSA which had filed the SOPs after consulting all stakeholders.

The OSCs are proposed to be set up to help victims of crime against women by carrying out activities ranging from providing legal and medical assistance to witness protection and disbursal of compensation.

DSLSA was asked by the high court on January 7 to prepare the SOPs for the OSCs after holding consultations with all stakeholders. The PIL on eveteasing has been filed by Nandita Dhar through advocate Gaurav Bansal.

PTI