In every criminal case resulting in a conviction, the victim will be entitled to compensation. In a recent judgement, the Supreme Court has directed the judiciary to enforce a neglected law of 2008, which provides for mandatory compensation to the victims.
Referring to Section 357 and 357A of the Criminal Procedure Code, a bench of Justices TS Thakur and GS Misra held, “While the award or refusal of compensation in a particular case may be within the court’s discretion, there exists a mandatory duty on the court to apply its mind to the question in every criminal case.”
Deciding this issue in an appeal filed by a murder convict from Aurangabad who was sentenced to life for killing a person with an iron rod in February 2006, the bench directed its order to be sent to all High Courts in the country for “circulation” among judges handling criminal trials and appeals. Though this principle was not applied in the appeal before the court due to the time lag, the bench hoped that the courts would be “cautious” in future to exercise this duty under law.
Section 357 was introduced into the CrPC in 1973, while the later Amendment to the provision arrived in 2008. The Parliament gave power to criminal courts to decide whether in a given case, compensation could be provided to “any person who has suffered loss or injury by the offence”. Though the power was discretionary it conferred a duty on courts to apply their mind to the question of compensation.
But the 2008 Amendment was specially suited for victims of criminal cases, in particular of sexual offences, where a duty was cast on States to create a fund for this purpose with the assistance of the Central Government. This compensation aimed to rehabilitate the victim. Once the court arrived at a conclusion that a victim deserved monetary compensation, the District or State legal Services Authority would then decide on the quantum.
A decision on the question of compensation would arise only in cases where the accused have been convicted, the bench said. However, the court will be required to record reasons for awarding or refusing compensation for which an enquiry would be necessary, the court held. “Such an enquiry can precede an order on sentence to enable the court to take a view both on the question of sentence and compensation that it may in its wisdom decide to award to the victim or his/her family,” the judgement said.
While the apex court’s order certainly seeks to aid the plight faced by victims in criminal cases, it could raise hackles with the Government on shouldering a huge financial burden resulting from the order.