Victims of crime, their heirs can appeal if accused are let off: Supreme Court

In a landmark interpretation of criminal law, the Supreme Court has expanded the rights of victims of crime, allowing them and their legal heirs to challenge orders acquitting accused persons, reported The Times of India.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and K V Viswanathan held that the ambit of “victims of crime” for the purpose of filing appeals must include their legal heirs if the victim dies during the pendency of the appeal.

“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,” Justice Nagarathna observed.


The bench clarified that if victims have the right to appeal against acquittal or lesser punishment awarded to the accused, their legal heirs would enjoy the same right if the victim dies after filing the appeal.

“Hence, the statutory rigours for filing an appeal by the State or by a complainant against an order of acquittal—which requires court permission—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 when no such restriction exists,” the court said.

Writing the 58-page precedent-setting judgment, Justice Nagarathna emphasized that victims’ rights to appeal against acquittal, inadequate punishment, or insufficient compensation “cannot be circumscribed,” citing prior Supreme Court judgments and Law Commission reports.

With inputs from ToI