BENGALURU: The observation of the single bench that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) can formulate a scheme similar to the one prevailing in the United Kingdom for granting compensation to victims of terrorism is against the spirit of the existing scheme pertaining to victims of terrorist violence and compensation, MHA said in its appeal filed before the High Court.
The appeal was filed against the single bench’s order in Malleswaram blast victim N S Leesha’s case.
MHA contended that the compensation sought by Leesha was on the higher side and that giving any special consideration to any individual victim would set a bad precedent.
Hearing the appeal, the division bench of Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Justice P S Dinesh Kumar issued notice to the Home Department, Government of Karnataka and Leesha.
The bench also requested the Single Judge hearing Leesha’s petition not to proceed with the matter during the pendency of the application.
The MHA contended that the assistance provided to victims of terror incidents as per a central scheme was revised to `5 lakh and that Leesha was eligible for the assistance.
It is further said that the victim or families of victims would be eligible to get assistance under the scheme even if they have received any other assistance by way of ex-gratia or any other type of relief from the government or any other source except when a similar scheme is already being implemented by the Central Government.
Therefore, the division bench must set aside the judgment of single judge, the MHA appealed.
The state government has also decided to give a job to Leesha, after she filed a contempt petition before the High Court.
Leesha, who is presently pursuing masters in computer application, was seriously injured in a blast that occurred in front of the BJP headquarters at Malleswaram on April 17, 2013.
She has undergone multiple surgeries to one of her legs. As of now, the state government had paid total `13.20 lakh to 21-year-old Leesha. She had submitted a representation seeking compensation of `1 crore and a job.