Punjab declines to grant monthly financial assistance to the male acid attack victims, Haryana restricts it to boys up to 18 years...
By: Niel Bhalinder Singh: Chandigarh, 2nd November: In resumed proceedings (on Wednesday, 31st October), of the Contempt Petition filed by H.C. Arora, Advocate, against Sh. Sarvesh Kaushal (the then Chief Secretary, Punjab) and others), the Punjab Government filed an affidavit under the signatures of N.D. Sharma, Under-Secretary, Department of Social Security and Women and Child Development, Punjab on behalf of the State of Punjab.
Wherein it has been stated that the scheme for giving financial assistance to acid attack victims was framed in 2016, with women acid attack victims in mind as the main reasons for the females to become a victim of such acid attack is to thwart the physical or sexual advances, spurned lovers, sexual harassment, eve teasing and other reasons incidental thereto. Due to such attacks, the females face great hardship in their lives.
A fortune of life earnings of such females is spent on various medical procedures to reverse the physical damage. Besides such victims are not treated as a part of community and they live to fend for themselves and to live a life of penury. The State of Punjab therefore, is not inclined to grant monthly financial assistance, as envisaged in the similar scheme framed by the State of Haryana, where under the acid attack victim girls, women and boys up to 18 years of age residing in Haryana are entitled to monthly financial assistance at the rate of Rs. 8,000/- per month w.e.f. 2.5.2011 onwards.
The State of Punjab has stated that such male acid attack victims may claim disability pension at the rate of Rs. 750/- per month. On the other hand, the State of Haryana has produced a copy of notification dated 8.5.2018 before the Court of Justice A.G. Masih which envisages the payment of monthly assistance to acid attack victim girls, women and boys up to 18 years of age residing in Haryana at the rate of Rs.8,000/- per month.
As the respondents produced their respective schemes and notifications before the HC Bench, the petitioner Advocate H.C. Arora, appearing in person, vehemently contended that the State of Punjab had undertaken before the PIL Bench to follow the scheme of monthly financial assistance to be framed by the State of Haryana, it cannot now turn around to say that it is not inclined to grant such monthly financial assistance to male acid attack victims, because the State of Haryana has issued the notification for giving such financial assistance at the rate of Rs. 8,000/- per month to the acid attack victim girls, women and boys up to 18 years.
The petitioner also protested against the provisions of the scheme framed by the State of Haryana where under such monthly financial assistant of Rs. 8,000/- per month is envisaged to be given to male acid attack victims only, if they are up to 18 years of age. The petitioner contended that acid attack victims cannot be discriminated on the basis of sex, nor such financial assistance can be restricted only to male acid attack victims up to the age of 18 years.
He cited certain instances where males of more than 18 years’ age were attacked, and one such male acid attack victim (Malkeet Singh of Dhuri Tehsil) had lost vision of both his eyes on account of acid attack, resulting into loss of livelihood also. The HC Bench after hearing the submissions on behalf of the petitioner and the Law Officers of the Punjab and Haryana Governments, adjourned the matter to 15.12.2018, for hearing arguments at length.
