HIGHLIGHTS:
- The Supreme Court has ordered the country’s High Courts to establish a Vulnerable Witness Deposition Center (VWDC).
- Victims of sexual assault have been added to the list of vulnerable witnesses by the Supreme Court.
- The center will create a secure setting in which vulnerable victims’ comments can be recorded.
Within three months, the Supreme Court has ordered the country’s High Courts to provide an estimate of the manpower required to establish a Vulnerable Witness Deposition Center (VWDC) plan in their respective states. It has given the vulnerable victims new definitions.
Who are the vulnerable victims?
Victims of sexual assault have been added to the list of vulnerable witnesses by the Supreme Court.
The following are the other vulnerable victims:
- Sexual assault victims of all genders
- Witnesses who believe they are in danger.
- These individuals are covered under the Union’s Witness Protection Scheme, which was established by the Central Government in 2018.
- Witnesses who have been diagnosed with a mental illness as specified by the Mental Health Care Act
- Individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing
- Persons with additional types of disability, as determined by the courts
- Section 377 of the IPC defines sexual assault victims are also in the list.
The VWDC Centre’s Background
The centre will create a secure setting in which vulnerable victims’ comments can be recorded. The concept calls for the establishment of a VWDC committee by the high courts. The court had been debating the need for these centers for over two decades.
The scheme’s main characteristics
- Training programmes for managing the VWDC centre will be held.
- Staff, bench, and bar will all receive training.
- The chairperson of the VWDC committee will have a two-year first term.
- In each district, at least one VWDC centre should be constructed.
- The VWDC centres shall be located within the Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) Centres in places where the ADR Centres are located within the court premises or within close proximity to the courts.
- It requested that the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development establish a nodal officer to oversee the scheme’s implementation.
- VWDCs are already installed in few HC. The HC in question will make the appropriate changes.
Vulnerable Victims was previously defined as
Victims under the age of 18, witnesses suffering from mental illness, and sexual assault victims were previously regarded as vulnerable victims by the Supreme Court. This time, the scope has been broadened to include victims who are facing grave danger.
