Provide relief to murdered man’s wife: HC to OSLSA

CUTTACK: The Orissa high court has directed the Odisha state legal services authority (OSLSA) to disburse within one month “appropriate compensation” to a woman whose husband had died following an alleged assault by her son.

Her appeal for relief under the Odisha Victim Compensation Scheme, 2017, was rejected by OSLSA citing Section 357 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which provides grant of compensation to victims of crime, but in this case the accused had been acquitted by the trial court. However, the high court held that the case appears to be a fit case for compensation to the victim.

Malati Dei’s husband succumbed to injuries following an alleged assault by drunk Raju Nayak with a crowbar at Daspalla on October 22, 2020.

The district legal service authority (Nayagarh) first rejected her appeal on May 21, 2022. The OSLSA upheld the rejection on January 9, 2023. She filed a petition in the high court seeking quashing of the OSLSA order.

The single judge bench of Justice S K Panigrahi said Section 357 of CrPC has “a significant drawback” as it can only be applied following a successful conviction.

Justice Panigrahi said: “Unlike the limitations of Section 357, Section 357A offers a more comprehensive approach for addressing the gap by assigning the responsibility to the state. Thus, according to Section 357A (3), if the court, at the conclusion of the trial, finds that the compensation granted under Section 357 is insufficient for the victim’s rehabilitation, or if the trial ends in acquittal or discharge of the accused but the victim still requires rehabilitation, it can recommend compensation to the relevant Legal Services Authority.”

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