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Pay compensation if police fail to crack cases: High Court

In a ruling that might come as a shocker to police officers and solace to victims of crime, the Madras High Court Bench here has held that the State government is liable to pay compensation to the victims even in cases which remain unsolved for years together and recover the money from the criminals after the police succeed in nabbing them.

Passing interim orders on a petition filed by the father of a 15-year-old girl who was murdered for gain in Pudukottai district in March 2011, Justice S. Nagamuthu said: “When a citizen’s right is infringed by an unscrupulous criminal and when the crime could not be even detected by the State agencies, then the State government is liable to pay compensation.”

The judge agreed with petitioner’s counsel G. Karuppasamy Pandian that neither the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) nor the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had been able to crack the murder case despite having dealt with it for nearly two years and 20 months respectively.

“The State is constitutionally obliged to guarantee a dignified life to its citizens and it includes sufficient safety and safeguard to their person and property… but here is a man who has been waiting for justice for the past four years having lost his lovable daughter in her teenage. He is crying for justice at least to know the perpetrator of the crime.

“The sufferings of the petitioner and his other family members and the mental agony and trauma caused to them as a result of the occurrence cannot be viewed lightly. Article 21, considered to be heart and soul of the Constitution, guarantees a very precious fundamental right to life which includes fair investigation and fair trial as against any crime,” the judge observed.

Pointing out that a Victim Compensation Scheme, framed by the State government in 2013 following the introduction of Section 357A to the Code of Criminal Procedure in 2009, provides for a compensation of Rs. 3 lakh in cases of death, the judge ordered that a cheque for the amount should be handed over to the present petitioner and his wife in open court on July 27.

Article referred: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/pay-compensation-if-police-fail-to-crack-cases-high-court/article7344086.ece

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