SC to culprits in acid attack: Pay Rs 1.50L each to victim
It asked the trial courts not to show leniency to the accused in acid attack cases.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed two convicts to pay Rs 1.5 lakhs each as compensation to a victim of an acid attack, in addition to the compensation under the State Victim Compensation Scheme.
It asked the trial courts not to show leniency to the accused in acid attack cases. Giving this direction, a bench of Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and Ajay Rastogi, however, refused to interfere with the five-year sentence imposed by the Himachal Pradesh high court, which had earlier taken a lenient view and reduced the 10-year sentence imposed on the two convicts by a sessions court.
The bench said the two convicts, Vijay Kumar and his accomplice, would each have to pay rs 1.50 lakhs to the acid attack victim, Ms Ishita Saunder, in six months, failing which they would undergo another six months of imprisonment.
Under the victim compensation scheme, different states have evolved compensation for acid attack/rape victims ranging from Rs 3 lakhs (which is the minimum prescribed under the law) upto rs 10 lakhs.