CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has disposed of a PIL filed 15 years ago seeking Rs 10 lakh compensation for a rape victim as it was not clear whether the petitioner had the victim’s consent to pursue the case.
The court said it is not known whether the victim was even made aware of it and her present whereabouts are also naturally not known.
The division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice BP Routray said, "In this state of uncertainty, in the absence of the petitioner and particularly since the privacy of the victim requires to be respected and nothing should be done in her name without her consent, the court is not in a position to pass any orders as prayed for."
However, the court said the changes in the law since then mandate payment of compensation to victims of rape in terms of the schemes formulated under Section 357-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
"If the petitioner is still able to locate the victim, and if she is still willing to pursue the matter regarding compensation, then it will be open to the petitioner to apply to the Odisha State Legal Services Authority for assistance in the matter of receiving compensation," the court said.
Advocate Prabir Kumar Das had filed the petition seeking compensation for one 19-year-old victim of rape in regard to the incident that took place in officers’ rest house at Cuttack railway station on July 7, 2006.
The petition was based on news clippings enclosed with it. In the past 15 years, no effective hearing had taken place in the petition. No replies had been filed.
When the petition was taken up on Monday, the petitioner was absent. The counsel for the railways informed the court that a criminal case was registered in connection with the alleged rape.