Introduction:

A mother loses her son--a college-going one, at that--said to be due to medical negligence. She seeks compensation under a scheme: the Kerala Victim Compensation Scheme. She gets certain amount awarded. The disbursement delayed, she files a writ petition. The Government takes a plea--after awarding the compensation-- that the mother is ineligible for the benefit: The Committee that awarded the compensation is not competent; the grant is ultra vires of the Committee. Thus a jurisdictional issue demands an answer.

Facts:

2. To touch upon the facts ever so briefly, I may note that the petitioner's son, then studying in the U.K., came home in 2012. Before he could go back, he fell ill and got admitted into a hospital. He died on 27.5.2012: The doctors declared that he died of liver failure. Distraught, the mother filed a criminal case in Crime No.432 of 2013 in Ernakulam North Police Station. The FIR is said to have been registered on 5.4.2015.

3. Soon after her son's death, the mother approached the District Legal Services Authority and filed PLP No.824 of 2014 claiming compensation because of her son's death. The Committee called for a report from the Secretary, D