PRAYAGRAJ, Oct. 25 -- The Allahabad high court has declared as unconstitutional a provision under the Uttar Pradesh Rani Lakshmi Bai Mahila Evam Bal Samman Kosh Scheme, 2015, that sought a mandatory injury report indicating penetrative sexual assault to claim financial assistance for child survivors. Under entry 7 of the scheme, a survivor of aggravated penetrative sexual assault is entitled to Rs.3 lakh in financial assistance, payable in two instalments. The provision in question required the FIR, charge sheet and an injury report indicating penetrative sexual assault to process the claim. It provides for an initial installment of Rs.1 lakh within 15 days and the remaining Rs.2 lakh within one month of filing the charge-sheet. A division bench of justices Saral Srivastava and Garima Prashad on October 23 held that the condition was manifestly arbitrary and violated Article 14 of the Constitution, as it could deny rehabilitation to victims for reasons unrelated to the need for relief. The court was hearing a petition filed on behalf of a girl from Jaunpur whose claim for financial assistance was rejected because no injury report indicating penetrative sexual assault was available. Although the girl had undergone a medical examination, consent was not given for the specific test relating to penetrative sexual assault. The court noted that the law protects a survivor's right to refuse a particular medical examination. "A welfare scheme cannot indirectly compel what the governing statute prohibits from being done without consent," it said. In the case at hand, an FIR was registered in March 2024 under relevant provisions of IPC and the Pocso Act. Following the investigation, police filed a charge sheet invoking Sections 5(m) and 6 of the Pocso Act. The trial is pending. The bench clarified that an available medical or injury report could still be placed before and considered by the competent authority. However, its absence could not be an absolute bar to assistance. The rest of the scheme would remain workable on the basis of the FIR and charge sheet. Quashing the district steering committee's decision to reject the minor's claim, the court directed the authorities to release the entire Rs.3 lakh to her within 10 days of the judgment....