Smti. Surbala Namashudra v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

ORDER Date : 04.08.2023

¶1The instant writ petition has been filed by the Petitioner being aggrieved by the inaction on the part of the Respondent Authorities in granting the compensation to the Petitioner as per the Assam Victim Compensation Scheme, 2012 (hereinafter referred to as "the Scheme of 2012").

¶2The facts involved in the instant proceedings is that the son of the Petitioner namely Sailendra Namasudra @ Mahananda Namasudra died as a victim of motor vehicular accident which took place on 05.05.2018 while he was Page No.# 3/5 proceeding on foot in the Narengi Panikhaiti Road under Pragjyotispur Police Station. The post-mortem was conducted by the doctors of the G.M.C.H. wherein the cause of death was mentioned as "Death was due to hemorrhage and shock as a result of injuries sustained over the abdomen and all injuries were ante-mortem and caused by blunt force". On the basis of the said accident, a case was registered vide Pragjyotispur P.S. Case No.100/2018 under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. Subsequent thereto, the final report was submitted in the said case stating inter alia that the son of the Petitioner expired as a result of motor vehicular accident hit by an unknown vehicle and the case was established as a case falling under Section 279/304(A) of the Indian Penal Code.

¶3The Petitioner thereupon submitted an application before the Member/Secretary, Assam State Legal Services Authority with a prayer to grant financial assistance to her under the Scheme of 2012. As no compensation was paid to the Petitioner, the Petitioner has approached this Court by filing the instant writ petition.

¶4It reveals from the records that pursuant to the notice so issued by this Court, an affidavit was filed by the Respondent No.4 through the Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Kamrup (M), Guwahati. In the said affidavit, at paragraph No.6 it was mentioned that vide an order dated 08.04.2022 in Victim Compensation Case No.10/2021, a compensation amount of Rs.5,00,000/- (Five Lakhs) has already been awarded to be paid to the Petitioner being the dependent of the deceased and the same has also been approved by the Chairman, District Legal Services Authority, Kamrup (M), Guwahati vide order dated 23.05.2022. However, on account of non-receipt of the funds, the said Page No.# 4/5 payment could not be disbursed to the Petitioner. The order dated 08.04.2022 has been enclosed as Annexure-A to the said affidavit-in-opposition filed by the Respondent No.4.

¶5The above facts therefore clearly show that the Petitioner's entitlement to the amount of Rs.5,00,000/- (Five Lakhs) as per the Scheme of 2012 have been verified and ascertained. It is only on account of non-release of the funds by the Home and Political Department of the Government of Assam, the payment could not be released to the Petitioner.

¶6Taking into account the above, this Court therefore disposes of the instant writ petition with a direction to the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Home and Political Department to release the funds to the Respondent No.4 i.e. the District Legal Services Authority, Kamrup (M) within 45 days from the date a certified copy of this order is served upon the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Home and Political Department.

¶7This Court further directs the Respondent Nos. 3 and 4 that upon receipt of the said compensation amount of Rs.5,00,000/- (Five Lakhs) from the Home and Political Department, Government of Assam, release the same to the Petitioner forthwith and not later than 15 days.

¶8The Petitioner is further directed to serve a certified copy of the instant order upon the Respondent No.4 as well as also provide the bank details wherein the said amount can be remitted to the Petitioner.

¶9The Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Home and Political Department as well as the District Legal Services Authority, Kamrup (M) Page No.# 5/5 are directed to submit compliance report before the Registry of this Court within 3 (three) months from the date a certified copy is served upon them.

¶10With above observations and directions, the instant writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010071722021 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/1420/2022o SMTI.oSURBALAoNAMASHUDRA W/OoLATEoKALINDRAoNAMASHUDRA oR/OoVILL-oPANIKHAITI oNEARoHOMEoGUARDoTRAININGoCENTERoBUSoSTOPPAGE oP.O.-PANIKHAITI oP.S.-PRAGJYOTISHPUR oDIST-oKAMRUP(M) oASSAM oPIN-781026 oVERSUS THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORS REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oHOMEoANDoPOLITICALoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06 2:THEoASSAMoSTATEoLEGALoSERVICESoAUTHORITY REPRESENTEDoBYoITSoMEMBER/SECRETARYoBEHINDoGAUHATIoHIGHo COURT oNEWoBUILDING oLATASIL oGUWAHATI oDIST-KAMRUPo(M) oASSAM oPIN-781001 o3:THEoCHAIRMAN oDISTRICToLEGALoSERVICESoAUTHORITY oKAMRUP(M) AToGUWAHATI oP.O.oANDoP.S.-PANBAZAR Page No.# 2/5 DIST-KAMRUP (M) ASSAM PIN-781001 4:THE DISTRICT LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITY KAMRUP(M) AT GUWAHATI REPRESENTED BY ITS MEMBER/SECRETARY P.O. AND P.S.-PANBAZAR DIST-KAMRUP(M) ASSAM PIN-781001 5:THE OFFICER-IN-CHARGE PRAGJYOTISHPUR POLICE STATION P.O.-CHANDRAPUR DIST- KAMRUP(M) ASSAM PIN-781354 ------------ For the Petitioner(s) : Mr. M. Hussain, Advocate : Mr. A. K. Mollah, Advocate : Mr. S. I. Akand, Advocate For the Respondent(s) : Mr. N. Goswami, Advocate BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH