"Hathras Rape Victim's Family Feels Insecure In Hathras & Wish To Relocate To Noida; Brother Wants Job There": Amicus Informs Allahabad High Court

The family members of the Hathras Rape victim have conveyed to the Allahabad High Court that they wish to relocate to NOIDA as they do not feel safe in Hathras. The brother of the victim girl has also expressed his willingness to take up a government job in Noida.

Essentially, the Bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Jaspreet Singh is hearing a Suo-Moto case instituted over the Hathras Rape and Cremation case to examine the right to decent and dignified last rites/cremation.

It may be noted that the bench has been hearing the parties on the question as to whether the victim's family is entitled to any benefit under the Schedule1/Annexure-1 referrable to Rule 12 (4) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules of 1995 or otherwise as claimed in their application filed in this regard.

Filing a second supplementary counter-affidavit, the State Government informed the court that the contingency plan referred to in Rule 15 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules of 1995 has not been framed as yet and the same is underway.

Against the backdrop of this submission, the Court reserved its orders on the question of entitlement of benefits, if any, under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules of 1995 or otherwise, as claimed by the victim's family.

Further, Senior Counsel J.N. Mathur assisted by Abhinava Bhattacharya, the Amicus Curie informed the bench that some members of the victim's family i.e. the brother, his wife, and the father met him in his chamber and apprised him that on account of the insecurity which they feel at Hathras and the deprivation, they are unwilling to be provided any employment or house in Hathras as was offered by the State, that too a provide job

Instead, they said that since there their extended family and relatives reside in Noida, therefore, they expressed their desire to re-locate to Noida and take up the job also at Noida.

It was further told to the Court that the family wants to stay together, therefore, the Amicus informed the Court that the brother being given a job elsewhere thereby separating the family members is not an option open to them, "considering the insecurities with which the family is beset, consequent to the incident which is the subject matter of these proceedings".

The Amicus also informed the Court that the family was also of the view that if a government job is provided to the elder brother at Noida then the father would also explore the possibility of getting a private job there itself and employment opportunities in this regard are far better than at Hathras where such opportunities are very limited rather negligible.

Significantly, the Court also decided to consider the Scheme placed on record by the State Government with regard to the procedure to be followed in future by the State Authorities in matters involving similar circumstances as the one which led to the incident of cremation of the victim in the dead of the night or in the wee hours before sunrise.

All these issues shall be considered by the Court on April 28, 2022.

Appearances

Counsel for Petitioner :- Abhinav Bhattacharya,Ajit Singh,Anjani Kumar Mishra,Ashish Kumar Agarwal,Atul K. Singh,Atul Kumar Singh,Digvijay Singh Yadav,Jaideep Narain Mathur (Ac,Nadeem Murtaza,Onkar Singh,Pradeep Kumar Singh,Seema Kushwaha,Sharad Bhatnagar

Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,A. S, G.,Anurag Kumar Singh,Ashok Shukla,Dr. Ravi Kumar Mishra,Manjusha,Pranjal Krishna,Satyaveer Singh

Case title - Suo-Moto Inre Right To Decent And Dignified Last Rites/Cremat v. State Of U.P. Thru Additional Chief Secretary Home And Ors

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