IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURISDICTION APPELLATE SIDE PRESENT: THE HON’BLE JUSTICE UDAY KUMAR WPA 2800 OF 2021 SAHIDA LASKAR -VS- STATE OF WEST BENGAL & ORS. For the Petitioner : Mr. Kaushik Gupta, Ld. Sr. Adv. Mr. Arnab Nandi, Ld. Adv. Mr. Anirban Tarafder, Ld. Adv. For the State : Mr. Sukanta Ghosh, Ld. Adv. Mr. Arghya Chatterjee, Ld. Adv. Reserved on : 22.09.2026 Pronounced on : 22.09.2026 JUDGMENT (ORAL) UDAY KUMAR, J.: – 1. The petitioner before this Court is a survivor of human trafficking who was trafficked on 27th March, 2017, and subsequently rescued on 27th June, 2017, from a shelter home with the active assistance of the police personnel attached to Goreyakothi Police Station, District-Siwan, Bihar. 2. Following her rescue, she approached the authorities by instituting Victim Compensation Case No. 45 of 2019, which came to be considered and processed before the learned Secretary, District Legal 2 WPA 2800 OF 2021 Services Authority, South 24-Parganas at Alipore. Vide an award passed in connection therewith, a sum of Rs. 1,500,000/- (Rupees One Lakh Fifty Thousand only) was awarded toward the rehabilitation of the victim pursuant to Clause 6 of the West Bengal Victim Compensation Scheme, 2017. However, despite the award being finalized, the actual disbursement of the total compensation amount by the State authorities to the victim materialized only on 4th February, 2021. 3. Being aggrieved by the considerable lapse of time between the finalization of the award and its actual realization, the petitioner has now approached this Court by filing the instant writ petition, being WPA 2800 of 2021, praying for the issuance of a writ of mandamus commanding the respondent no. 1 (State of West Bengal) and respondent no. 2 (Member Secretary, State Legal Services Authority and Secretary, D.L.S.A.) to pay interest on the delayed disbursement of the compensation amount in accordance with law, contending that such undue withholding infringes upon her right to live with dignity. 4. In support of this claim, learned counsel for the petitioner draws the attention of this Court to the orders dated 15th February, 2022, passed in WPA 3195 of 2022, and 28th November, 2022, passed in WPA 3197 of 2022 by coordinate Benches of this Court, wherein similar directions came to be issued against the State Legal Services Authority for the clearance of interest on delayed compensation. 5. Furthermore, heavy reliance is placed upon paragraphs 16, 17, 19, and 20 of the authoritative pronouncement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in 3 WPA 2800 OF 2021 Tahazhathe Purayil Sarabi & Ors. v. Union of India & Anr., reported in (2009) 10 S.C.R. 70. 6. Learned counsel places strong reliance on paragraphs 16, 17, and 19 of the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Tahazhathe Purayil Sarabi & Ors. v. Union of India & Anr., reported in (2009) 10 S.C.R. 70, wherein the Apex Court observed as under: “16. It is, therefore, clear that the Court, while making a decree for payment of money is entitled to grant interest at the current rate of interest or contractual rate as it deems reasonable to be paid on the principal sum adjudged to be payable and/or awarded, from the date of claim or from the date of the order or decree for recovery of the outstanding dues. There is also hardly any room for doubt that interest may be claimed on any amount decreed or awarded for the period during which the money was due and yet remained unpaid to the claimants. 17. The Courts are consistent in their view that normally when a money decree is passed, it is most essential that interest be granted for the period during which the money was due, but could not be utilized by the person in whose favour an order of recovery of money was passed... Accordingly, payment of interest follows as a matter of course when a money decree is passed...” 19. Accordingly, we are unable to sustain the order of the Railway Claims Tribunal directing payment of interest on default 4 WPA 2800 OF 2021 of the payment of the principal sum within a period of 45 days. As we have indicated hereinbefore, when there is no specific provision for grant of interest on any amount due, the Court and even Tribinals have been held to be entitled to award interest in their discretion, under the provisions of Section 3 of the Interest Act and Section 34 of the Civil Procedure Code. 20. In Jagdish Rai & Brothers vs. Union of India (1999) 3 SCC 257, this Court, while considering grant of interest in respect of an amount awarded in an arbitration proceeding under Section 9 of the Arbitration Act, 1940 read with Section 34 of the Civil Procedure Code, observed that there are four stages of grant of interest. Firstly, from the stage of accrual of cause of action till the filing of the arbitration proceedings; secondly, during pendency of the proceedings before the arbitrator; thirdly, future interest arising between the date of the award and the date of the decree; and fourthly, interest arising from the date of the decree till realization of the award. This Court held that although the claim for interest had been made before the Court in which proceedings for making the Award the Rule of the Court were pending, the High Court ought to have further examined whether the appellant was entitled to any interest after the decree was made in terms of the award. This Court went on to observe that the Courts have taken a view that the award on interest under Section 34 of the Civil Procedure Code is a matter of procedure and ought to be granted in all cases where there is a decree for money unless 5 WPA 2800 OF 2021 there are strong reasons to decline the same. In the said case, this Court modified the decree of the Court of the Subordinate Judge by including a direction for payment of interest @ 12% per annum from the date when the award was made the Decree of the Court of the Subordinate Judge, till realization.” 7. The Apex Court categorically observed that when money is due and remains unpaid, interest is essentially a compensation payable on account of the denial of the right to utilize that money, and that the grant of interest follows as a matter of course when a money decree or award is passed by a competent forum. It is thus submitted that an award of compensation partakes of the nature of a decree and squarely attracts interest for delayed payment. 8. Per contra, learned counsel representing the State opposes the prayer by contending that the delay in the actual disbursement of the compensation award occurred solely due to the non-availability of funds and administrative constraints. It is further submitted that the West Bengal Victim Compensation Scheme, 2017, does not contain any express provision contemplating the payment of interest on delayed disbursements from the governmental end, and as such, the petitioner is not entitled to any additional monetary relief. 9. Heard learned counsel for the respective parties at length and upon a careful perusal of the materials on record, it is evident that the compensation amount was disbursed to the victim approximately fifteen months after the date of the award. Guided by the well-settled 6 WPA 2800 OF 2021 principles of jurisprudence enunciated by the Hon'ble Supreme Court regarding the grant of interest on delayed statutory awards and money decrees, and keeping in sharp focus the ameliorative, welfare-oriented, and humanitarian objectives underlying victim compensation schemes, I am of the considered view that the petitioner cannot be deprived of her rightful entitlement to interest for the period during which the awarded sum was withheld, regardless of administrative or budgetary bottlenecks at the state level. 10. Accordingly, the instant writ petition being WPA 2800 of 2021 stands disposed of with a direction upon the State Legal Services Authority (S.L.S.A.) to pay interest on the compensation amount at the rate of 4.5% per annum, calculated from the date of the award namely, 19th November, 2019 up to the date of its actual disbursement. 11. The said interest amount shall be disbursed by the S.L.S.A. in favour of the petitioner within a period of eight weeks from the date of communication of this order. 12. Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties upon compliance with all requisite formalities. (Uday Kumar, J.)