New Delhi, Nov 23 : The Delhi State Legal Services Authority told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that since the demonestisation notification, there have been delays in disbursal from the victim compensation fund, as banks are busy with other functions.
A division bench of Justice B.D. Ahmed and Jayant Nath asked the Legal Services Authority to expedite the payment of compensation to rape victims.
On an application filed by Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to include it as a party in a case where the court took suo motu cognisance of December 16, 2012 gang rape case and over the safety of women in the national capital, the bench asked the central and Delhi governments to file their response.
After two minor girls were raped here in the last two days, the DCW approached the court, saying the central government had not taken adequate steps on its recommendations regarding the safety of women.
The DCW has suggested that the central government should utilise the Nirbhaya Fund for installing CCTV cameras in DTC buses and at bus shelters.
The Commission has also sought notification of the Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme, 2015, and to provide reasons and fix responsibility for the delay of over one year in notifying the crucial scheme enhancing the compensation amount for rape and acid attack victims.
The bench also expressed anguish over the shuttling of a proposal to add more police force for Delhi between the central government and police.
The court directed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to take a final decision within four weeks on the proposal and to place it before the Ministry of Finance for approval and sanction.
The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it after the December 16, 2012 gang rape incident, in which it has been giving directions on the issue of women safety, including appointing more police personnel, setting up additional forensic labs and a victim compensation fund.
