Adv Meenu Padha & Tavleen Kaur
There are individuals who are in excruciating pain. They are helpless victims who did not bring this on themselves. They are the victims of the sins of others. While it may be difficult to notice, it is critical to recognize that these people exist. Throughout the world, proper laws and acts protect, assist, restitute, and recompense crime victims. The victims of crime in India play an in-significant role in the criminal justice system. The one that proposes a victim-oriented approach to criminal justice administration is one of the many reforms being proposed in the criminal justice system. Greater respect and consideration for victims and their rights in the investigative and prosecution process, provisions for victims to provide more choices in the trial and disposition of the accused, and a scheme of reparation/compensation, particularly for victims of violent crimes are all instances of victim-orientation. The Report of the Committee on Reforms of the Criminal Justice System, chaired by Justice V S Malimath, highlighted the importance of providing ‘justice to crime victims.’ There are various provisions in the Indian Constitution and parts in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to protect victims’ rights and provide compensation, however criminal courts at the lower level in India have ignored those rules and have not used them throughout their sentencing processes. However, over the last two decades, various judgments in both the High Courts and the Supreme Court have come to the aid of victims of not just classic crimes where the offender is another citizen, but also cases where the victimization has been inflicted by State entities.
The Indian judiciary devised a novel notion called as victim compensation in order to secure justice. By providing relief tools to compensate victims, the modern concept of justice has demonstrated great concern. As a result, victim compensation laws and regulations have been evolving since the Indian Constitution was drafted. Following the UN Declaration on the Basic Principles of Crime and Abuse of Power in 1985, victims’ rights began to emerge in the previous few decades. Since then, there has been a recognition that the victim is at the heart of the criminal justice system, and constant efforts have been made to better their circumstances. Compensation for the injury suffered was seen as a fundamental proponent of the right to life under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
Later, Section 357A of the 1973 Code of Criminal Procedure made it essential for the state to compensate victims and their dependents that were injured as a result of the damage perpetrated. Almost all states in the country developed Victim Compensation Schemes to give proper compensation. The discovery of restitution in Indian law dates back to the British colonization period. According to Section 545, sub-clause (1) (b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1898, a court may order an individual to pay compensation for losses incurred or injury caused by the offence if substantial compensation is rightfully considered recoverable by such individual in civil courts in the court’s opinion. The relevance of compensability was initially distinguished by the word substantial in the 41st Report of the Law Commission of India presented in 1969, which alienated cases of recovery of nominal costs.
On the basis of the recommendations made in the Law Commission’s report, the Government of India drafted the Code of Criminal Procedure Bill, 1970. Section 545 was revised and re-introduced in the manner of Section 357, which is still in effect and has resulted in significant changes in the framework. The legislative foundation in India for compensatory redress to crime victims can be traced back to the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Probation of Offenders Act of 1985, the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988, the Consumer Protection Act of 1986, the Indian Railways Act, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act of 2005, the Sexual Harassment (Prevention, Protection, and Redress) Act of 2013, and the Fatal Accidents Act of 1855 all include provisions for compensating victims of crime. Aside from these statutes, the Constitutional plan for compensatory victims can be found in Supreme Court rulings interpreting fundamental rights or directive principles of State Policy, or in Articles 32, 136, and 142, where the court may direct payment of compensation to victims of crime.
In Indian law, the phrase “victims of crime” is not defined. Its legal definition dates back to the United Nations General Assembly’s Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Abuse of Power, which was adopted in 1985. According to Articles 1 and 2 of the Declaration, “victims of crime” are individuals who have suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss, or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, as a result of acts or omissions that violate criminal laws in force within Member States, including those laws forbidding criminal abuse of power. A person may be considered a “victim” regardless of whether the perpetrator is identified, caught, prosecuted, or convicted, and regardless of the perpetrator’s familial relationship with the victim. As a consequence, “victims” are those who suffer a loss or injury as a result of another’s act or omission, and include all those who are, in the regular course of natural events, dependent on such person at the time the act in issue was performed or omitted.
‘Victim’ means a person who has suffered any loss or injury as a result of the act or omission for which the accused person has been charged, including his or her legal heir or guardian, as defined in section 2 (wa) of the CrPC
The Indian Constitution has a number of sections. Several clauses in the Indian Constitution support the notion of victim compensation. The articles dealing with Fundamental Rights (Part III) and State Policy Directive Principles (Part IV) provided the groundwork for a new social order in which justice, social justice, and economic justice would blossom in the country’s national life (Article 38).
Article 41, which is pertinent to victimology in general, requires the state to make necessary preparations for ‘securing public aid in cases of disablement and other cases of unjustified want.’ Crime victims and other victims will almost certainly seek refuge under Article 41. Article 51-A states that it is every Indian citizen’s primary obligation ‘to maintain and improve the natural environment and to have sympathy for living creatures’ and ‘to cultivate humanism.’ If we interpret them sympathetically and imaginatively, we can trace the constitutional roots of victim-logy here. Furthermore, the guarantee against unjustified deprivation of life and liberty (Article 21) includes provisions requiring the state to compensate victims of criminal violence.
Prior to independence, the rule was that the King could do no wrong. Following this norm, the Supreme Court has ruled in a number of situations that a victim of State misconduct cannot be compensated. Article 300 of India’s independence constitution stipulated that the state might sue and be sued. The first of its kind, Rudul Shah, which came before a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, raised questions about the Courts’ competence to grant adequate compensation/exemplary costs to victims of abuse of power by the State and its administration while deciding a writ petition under Article 32. There are several impediments in India in the process of victimization prevention and victim protection, which are being addressed through certain constructive measures. Among the challenges and countermeasures are:
A. There is no separate law for crime victims.
Nonetheless, ongoing efforts are being made to enact a nationwide statute protecting victims. The Victim Bill proposed by the ISV is a model draft Bill.
B. Corruption in the Criminal Justice System of India
Corruption by public officials harms society’s overall health and victimises people from all walks of life. The government has made numerous attempts to eliminate corruption and the acquisition of unlawful wealth. A recent example is the declaration of assets and wealth by judges of the higher judiciary and government ministers.
C. Women’s Empowerment to Prevent Women’s Victimization
NGOs and the government have made serious attempts to modify women’s traditional submissive and oppressed roles. One attempt is the ongoing battle and active attempts of women’s organizations to gain more political power for women in the form of representation in Parliament, state legislatures, and local bodies through a 33 percent reserve of seats in these bodies. Women have already gained representation in local self-government, but the fight for reservations for women in Parliament and state legislatures continues. Many concessions, special privileges, and tax deductions are available to female students in order to encourage them to pursue higher education and employment, as well as to help senior female citizens to achieve economic self-sufficiency. The Tamil Nadu State Government’s Cradle Baby scheme is an important step toward protecting female babies and combating female infanticide.
D. Children’s Empowerment
Making basic education a constitutional right is a significant move toward empowering children, as education is the tool for development. Other forms of victimization, such as child labour, would be affected by the adoption of this right. Strengthening the Noon Meal scheme in schools, as well as introducing it in other states, will encourage more children from underprivileged backgrounds to attend school and pursue education.
E. Major Challenge is Implementation
The major challenge is transparency and honesty among policymakers, as well as the commitment of government officials entrusted with policy execution. We must work hard with government and civil society to ensure that the fundamental provisions envisioned in the UN Declaration of Victims are implemented in the majority of states of India. The preceding discussion implies that there is still a long way to go in terms of compensating victims of crime. The global experiences, especially the United States, illustrate that there is a lot that has to be done at the macro level. However, at the micro level, certain quick and possible measures may be implemented to assist crime victims in India. As a result, the first goal in the grand scheme of things is to sensitize everyone involved. The natural sequence of delivering real social and legal justice should be as follows:
- Treatment that is fair, considerate, and empathetic by the police, hospitals, welfare groups, prosecutors, and courts.
- Immediate restitution/compensation to the victim for the injury or loss sustained by the use of existing laws; and
- Security for victims and potential victims from future victimisation. Among the different services and help provided to victims during a criminal inquiry are the following:
” The first step in aiding a crime victim is to:
o enable their access to existing services; and
o to be compensated for the consequences of crime
This is partially a matter of gathering information from victims, partly of persuading victims to apply for services, and partly of sensitizing the service to the requirements of the victims. - The police should improve their support for crime victims by ensuring that the responding officer gives the victim a card with important phone numbers of organizations. The following information should also be included on the card:
o Case’s filing number (crime number);
o Name of the officer in charge of the investigation; and
o Phone number to call if you have any questions about the case’s progress. - To coordinate things connected to crime victims, a victim’s assistance unit should be established inside the police department, preferably at the sub-divisional level. Hence, if law enforcement agencies in India take the procedures outlined above, the status of victims in the criminal justice system will significantly improve.