Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 20: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has quashed the rejection of compensation to the family of a woman killed in a militant attack in Poonch in 2003, holding that the authorities acted in a “mechanical and arbitrary manner” and failed in their duty as a welfare State.
Justice M A Chowdhary, while allowing the petition filed by Sabza Begum (72) and her son Zakir Hussain Malik, set aside the order passed by the Deputy Commissioner, Poonch, which had denied the family the balance ex-gratia relief on the ground of limitation.
The court directed the authorities to reconsider the claim afresh under the Revised Central Scheme for Assistance to Civilian Victims of Terrorist Violence, 2019, and assess compensation expeditiously.
The case relates to a horrific militant attack on 27th July 2003 at Fazal-Abad, Surankote, in which militants stormed the petitioners’ house, assaulted Sabza Begum, gunned down her 28-year-old daughter Zubeda Begum, and set the house on fire. Zubeda was targeted allegedly because her mother was working as an SPO with the police. An FIR was registered at Police Station Surankote, and the family was paid only Rs 1 lakh as ex-gratia at the time.
Despite a previous High Court direction in 2016 to consider their claim for the remaining amount, the District Administration rejected it in 2017, citing delay and technical eligibility conditions. Terming this approach unjust, the court observed that victims of terrorism cannot be expected to pursue claims within rigid timelines while grappling with trauma and loss.
“The plea of limitation cannot be used as a shield to deny justice to victims of terrorist violence,” the court held, adding that State authorities are duty-bound to proactively compensate such families. The impugned order was quashed, and the administration was directed to assess and sanction compensation so that the family, “craving for relief for more than 22 years,” receives some succour for the grave injuries inflicted upon them.
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