In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court has
held that victims of crime, including their legal heirs, can file an appeal
against acquittal of the accused.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and K V
Viswanathan said the right of a victim of a crime must be placed on a par with
the right of an accused who has suffered a conviction.
"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.
The top court in its August 22 judgment said 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".
Expanding the ambit of "victims of crime"
for the purpose of filing an appeal, the apex court 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," the bench said.
In a criminal case, both the convicted person and
the State (through the Public Prosecutor) can file appeal. The top court said a proviso was added to section 372 of CrPC
(No appeal to lie unless otherwise provided) in 2009 to include victims. It said the victim of an offence has the right to prefer an
appeal under the proviso to Section 372 CrPC, irrespective of whether he is a
complainant or not.