NEW DELHI: The Jharkhand high court has enhanced the compensation awarded to a male acid attack survivor from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, calling the earlier amount “meagre,” and urged the state government to amend its victim compensation scheme to ensure male and female survivors are treated equally.A division bench comprising Justices Rongon Mukhopadhyay and Pradeep Kumar Srivastava observed that acid “does not discriminate between a male and female victim while causing damage” and that compensation cannot depend on the gender of the person attacked.What was the case?The case relates to an acid attack that took place on May 31, 2012, in Ranchi district. The survivor, Rahul Kumar, was studying at home when a dispute broke out between his young cousin and a neighbourhood child. After the argument escalated, a woman from the neighbourhood allegedly returned with a bottle of liquid and threw it on his face.The attack caused severe facial disfigurement. His eyelids were destroyed, both ears suffered extensive burns with loss of cartilage, and he sustained injuries to his neck, chest and left arm. He has since undergone 14 plastic surgeries, suffers from 45 percent disability, has lost a significant part of his eyesight, and has spent more than Rs 25 lakh on treatment, with further surgeries still required.He was pursuing a Chartered Accountancy course at the time of the attack. As the court noted, “all the dreams, aspirations and goals of the writ-petitioner have been scuttled by virtue of a moment of rage at the hands of the accused.”Kumar had initially received Rs 3 lakh under the Jharkhand Victim Compensation Scheme, 2016, through the District Legal Services Authority. When he approached the high court seeking enhancement to Rs 25 lakh, a single judge declined the prayer in 2019, holding that he had already received the prescribed amount. Kumar then filed this appeal — with a delay of 1,374 days — citing his prolonged medical treatment, financial hardship, and the fact that his elderly parents could not afford a lawyer. The appeal was filed through the High Court Legal Services Committee.The bench condoned the delay, observing that “in cases of this nature delay in filing of the appeal/application should be considered with utmost sympathy” and that for a victim traumatised for life, the delay “becomes insignificant.”What did the court say?The court identified a stark disparity between how the state compensates male and female acid attack survivors. Under the 2016 scheme, male acid attack victims are entitled to a minimum of Rs 3 lakh with no upper cap. Under the 2019 amendment — applicable only to female victims — the minimum compensation for facial disfigurement is Rs 7 lakh, going up to Rs 8 lakh.“A decade has passed since the Scheme of 2016 was unveiled and it is time to consider amendment to the amount of compensation fixed in various categories in the said scheme to commensurate with the Scheme of 2019, especially for male victims in order to obliterate the discrimination it accentuates,” the bench noted.The 2016 scheme sets a minimum of Rs 3 lakh but puts no upper limit on what victims can receive. The court said this meant it was free to award more depending on the severity of the case. Pointing to a 2016 Supreme Court ruling in Parivartan Kendra v. Union of India — which held that victims deserve compensation for losing the ability to live a full life, not just for physical injuries — the bench settled on Rs 15 lakh.Since Kumar had already received Rs 3 lakh, the state has been directed to pay the remaining Rs 12 lakh within eight weeks. The court also directed the state to clear Kumar’s pending verified medical bills within four weeks, and ordered that future treatment bills be processed promptly, with payments made directly to hospitals where possible.
