Supreme Court
NEW DELHI: After focusing for decades on ensuring fair trial to accused persons and their unfettered right to appeal against conviction, Supreme Court in a significant interpretation of criminal law has conferred similar rights on victims of crime, and even their legal heirs, to challenge acquittals.Till now, in the case of acquittal of an accused by trial court or high court, either the state or complainant had the right to file an appeal. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and K V Viswanathan last week extended the right to appeal against acquittal of accused to two more categories of people – those who suffered injury or losses in the crime and legal heirs of victims of the crime.Writing the 58-page precedent-setting judgment, Justice Nagarathna said, “The right of a victim of a crime must be placed on par with the right of an accused who has suffered a conviction, who, as a matter of right, can prefer an appeal under Section 374 of CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure).”
“We find the victim has every right to prefer an appeal as against a conviction for a lesser offence or for imposing inadequate compensation or even in the case of an acquittal …as stated in the proviso to Sec 372 of CrPC,” the bench said.Threading analogous SC judgments and law commission reports, the bench concluded that the right of victims of crime to file appeal in a higher court against acquittal of the accused, or award of lenient punishment “cannot be circumscribed”. The bench expanded the ambit of “victims of crime” for the purpose of filing an appeal and said their legal heirs could continue prosecution of such appeals in case the appellant-victim dies during the pendency of appeals. “A person convicted of a crime has the right to prefer an appeal under Section 374 of the CrPC as a matter of right and not being subjected to any conditions. Similarly, a victim of a crime, whatever be the nature of the crime, must have a right to prefer an appeal as per the CrPC,” she said. Justices Nagarathna and Viswanathan said if the victims of an offence had the right to appeal against acquittal or lesser punishment awarded to the accused, then their legal heirs would have identical right to prosecute the appeal if after filing of the appeal, the injured person dies.SC said in the event of acquittal of accused, the state through the public prosecutor can file an appeal with permission of the appellate court even if the complainant does not challenge the acquittal.”It is not always that the State or a complainant would prefer an appeal. But when it comes to a victim’s right to prefer an appeal, the insistence on seeking special leave to appeal from the HC under Section 378(4) of the CrPC would be contrary to what has been intended by the Parliament by insertion of the proviso to Section 372 of the CrPC,” it further said. “Hence, the statutory rigours for filing of an appeal by the State or by a complainant against an order of acquittal cannot be read into the proviso to Section 372 of the CrPC so as to restrict the right of a victim to file an appeal on the grounds mentioned therein, when none exists,” SC said.
