3 weeks ago
Calcutta High Court Rejects 'Big Brother' Control of Survivor Funds
Two women who survived human trafficking received government compensation money.
One woman was given three lakh rupees, and the other was given four lakh rupees.
An office called the West Bengal State Legal Services Authority told them they could only use a quarter of the money.
The rest had to stay locked in a bank fixed deposit for ten years.
One of the women went to court to fight for the right to spend her own money.
A single judge agreed with her in March 2020, but the state authority appealed.
Now, two judges of the Calcutta High Court have again said the survivors can decide for themselves how to use the money.
The judges said treating grown-up survivors like children is a 'big brother' approach that should be stopped.
They explained that the right to make mistakes is part of personal freedom.
The Calcutta High Court dismissed the West Bengal State Legal Services Authority's (SLSA) appeal and upheld a 2020 single-judge order favouring two human trafficking survivors.
The SLSA had directed that 75 per cent of the survivors' compensation be kept in a fixed deposit for 10 years, with only 25 per cent available for use.
The court ruled that the West Bengal Victim Compensation Scheme does not authorise anyone to place restrictions on how a victim utilises compensation.
The bench said the 'big brother' approach should be shunned and that the right to make mistakes is part of personal liberty and freedom.
One survivor was awarded Rs 3 lakh in compensation, while the other received Rs 4 lakh, comprising Rs 3 lakh for trafficking and Rs 1 lakh for rape.
- Who
- Two adult women survivors of human trafficking and the West Bengal State Legal Services Authority (SLSA); the case was heard by Justices Arjit Banerjee and Apurba Sinha Ray of the Calcutta High Court.
- What
- The High Court dismissed SLSA's appeal and upheld the survivors' right to use their full compensation, rejecting the direction to keep 75 per cent in a fixed deposit for 10 years.
- Where
- Calcutta High Court, West Bengal, India.
- When
- SLSA issued its direction in August 2019, a single judge ruled in March 2020, and the division bench later dismissed the appeal.
- Why
- Because the West Bengal Victim Compensation Scheme does not authorise restrictions on how an adult victim uses compensation, and curbing that freedom was called a 'big brother' approach.
Survivor autonomy
Protective supervision
Use of compensation
Survivor autonomy
Adult survivors have every right and liberty to decide how to spend their compensation; the state scheme does not authorise any restriction on its use.
Protective supervision
The compensation is meant for rehabilitation, so the SLSA has the power to impose reasonable conditions to protect survivors from misusing the money and provide them a regular income.
Institutional authority
Survivor autonomy
The 'big brother' approach of the disbursing authority should be shunned, and the right to make mistakes is part of personal liberty that cannot be arbitrarily curbed.
Protective supervision
Since the SLSA is headed by the Chief Justice and the second senior-most judge of the Calcutta High Court, its order should be presumed to be for the furtherance of justice.
Key facts
- Court
- Calcutta High Court (Division Bench)
- Judges
- Justices Arjit Banerjee and Apurba Sinha Ray
- Compensation awarded
- Rs 3 lakh to one survivor; Rs 4 lakh (Rs 3 lakh trafficking + Rs 1 lakh rape) to the other
- SLSA direction (August 2019)
- 75% of compensation in fixed deposit for 10 years; 25% available for use
- Applicable scheme
- West Bengal Victim Compensation Scheme, 2017
- Single judge order
- March 2020, later upheld by the division bench
- Outcome
- Appeal dismissed; survivors free to decide how to spend their compensation
Quotes
Calcutta High Court
Judicial order by the Calcutta High Court
“The West Bengal Victim Compensation Scheme does not authorize anybody to put any fetter on the manner of utilization of the compensation amount disbursed in favour of a victim.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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