The Supreme Court has now ordered the state officers, who signed on the documents, to be personally present to explain the matter. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal) The Supreme Court has now ordered the state officers, who signed on the documents, to be personally present to explain the matter. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

Two affidavits filed by the governments of West Bengal and Uttarakhand, in a case related to disbursement of Nirbhaya Fund Scheme, left the Supreme Court fuming on Tuesday after it noted that the documents had named rape victims. The court has now ordered the state officers, who signed on the documents, to be personally present to explain the matter.

Mincing no words, a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta asked the lawyers of the two states: “Don’t you know that it’s a criminal offence to name rape victims? Are you just peons?”

While the West Bengal government had named the victims, its counterpart in Uttarakhand mentioned the names, addresses, etc of the victims, including minors. Under the Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code making the identity of a rape victim known is punishable offence with two years imprisonment.

“How can you file affidavits without giving any thought or application of mind? This is a very serious offence. There is an earlier judgment of this court that says an advocate-on-record (AOR) will be held responsible for filing incorrect affidavits,” the top court said.

The lawyers have pleaded that they simply repeated what was prepared by the state officers.

Ajay Rautela, Additional secretary (Home), Uttarakhand, and Lalit Kumar Das, Joint secretary (Ministry of Women and Child), West Bengal, who had signed the affidavits, have been directed to appear before the top court after three weeks and explain why it was filed in complete violation of the law.

The court was hearing a petition filed by lawyer Nipun Saxena seeking a victim compensation scheme in cases of offences against women.

Meanwhile, the bench lauded the Uttar Pradesh government for the system it had put in place for disbursal of compensation under the Nirbhaya Fund Scheme.

The Nirbhaya fund is a central scheme initiated after the brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student in New Delhi on December 16, 2012.

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