Anju Bhawmick v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 24.07.2024

Heard Mr. M. Hussain, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioner and Mr. A. Bhattacharjee, the learned Standing counsel appearing on behalf of the Respondent No.1. I have also heard Mr. D. Nath, the learned Senior Government Advocate appearing on behalf of the Respondent Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6. None appears for the Finance Department on call.

¶2The Petitioner herein is aggrieved on account of the non-payment of the compensation in terms with the notification dated 15.11.2014 to which the Petitioner claims to be entitled to on account of her husband being killed by miscreants. This Court has duly taken note of the Page No.# 3/4 documents on record including the final report which have been submitted by the Investigating Officer in connection with Dotma P.S. Case No.01/2020.

¶3From a perusal of the final report, it is not seen that there is any opinion rendered by the Investigating Officer that the death of the husband of the Petitioner had occurred on being killed by some extremists/terrorists/miscreants or for that matter, the husband of the Petitioner was killed on account of communal violence/ethnic violence/group clashes or due to firing of the security forces. Under such circumstances, in the opinion of this Court the notification dated

15.11.2014 cannot be made applicable to grant the Petitioner any relief.

¶4Be that as it may, the final report reveals that the dead body of the husband of the Petitioner was found and in that regard, a case has been registered under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. Under such circumstances, though the Petitioner may not be entitled to the benefit in terms with the notification dated 15.11.2014, but in the opinion of this Court, as a crime has been committed, the Petitioner would be entitled to compensation in terms with Assam Victim Compensation Scheme, 2012.

¶5Under such circumstances, the Petitioner would be well advised to apply before the Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, Kokrajhar who shall duly take into consideration the said application in terms with the Assam Victim Compensation Scheme, 2012 read with the notification dated 01.02.2019. It is observed that if the Petitioner duly applies in terms with the said Scheme, the District Legal Services Authority, Kokrajhar as well as the Assam State Legal Services Authority are both directed to take due consideration of the same and pass Page No.# 4/4 appropriate orders so that the Petitioner can get the relief in terms with the said Scheme. This Court grants the liberty to the Petitioner to approach this Court in the circumstance that within a reasonable time the Petitioner is not granted the benefit in terms with the said Scheme.

¶6With above observations and directions, the instant petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010095132022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3304/2022o ANJUoBHAWMICKo W/O-oLT.oBISHTIoBHAWMICKo@oBRISHTIoBHOWMICKo@oBISTIoBHOWMICK, VILL-oBANGLABARIoCOLONY,oP.O.oANDoP.S.oKOKARJHAR,oDIST.-o KOKRAJHAR,oBTR,oASSAM,oPIN-o783370. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM,oREVENUEo(oRELIEFoANDoREHABILITATION)oANDoDISASTERo MANAGEMENToDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-06. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFINANCEoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06. 3:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oKOKRAJHAR oBTR oASSAM oP.O.oANDoP.S.oANDoDIST-oKOKRAJHAR oBTR oASSAM oPIN-o783370. 4:THEoCIRCLEoOFFICER oKOKRAJHARoREVENUEoCIRCLE oP.O.oANDoP.S.oANDoDIST.oKOKRAJHAR oASSAM oPIN-o783370. Page No.# 2/4 5:THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE KOKRAJHAR P.O. AND P.S. AND DIST. KOKRAJHAR ASSAM PIN- 783370. 6:THE OFFICER-IN-CHARGE DOTMA POLICE STATION P.O. AND P.S.- DOTMA DIST- KOKRAJHAR BTR ASSAM PIN- 783346 For the Petitioner(s) : Mr. M. Hussain, Advocate For the Respondent(s) : Mr. D. Nath, Sr. Government Advocate : Mr. A. Bhattacharjee, SC, Revenue BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH