Victim-centric reforms in the Criminal Justice System have generally been in the form of:
a) Participatory Rights (to provide the victim a say in the criminal process through the opportunity of hearing before a court, ex. BNSS Cl.360)
b) Right to Information (BNSS Cls.173, 193 and 230)
c) Right to Compensation for the Harm suffered.
- The 154th Law Commission Report (1996) and the Justice Malimath Committee Report (2003) recommended justice to victims and victimology as crucial areas of reform and made recommendations, focusing on increasing victims’ participatory role and for better compensatory justice. In addition to this, the practice of recording Zero FIRs has been institutionalised (BNSS CI.173) whereby complainants may file an FIR, irrespective of the area where the offence was committed.
- There is a current lacuna in Cr. PC s.321, which allows the prosecutor to withdraw the prosecution of a case, at any time before the judgment is pronounced, with the consent of the court. The CrPC did not allow the victim to be heard at this stage.
However, BNSS plugs this lacuna. CI.360 has one important proviso that the victim must be heard before such withdrawal is allowed. This is a significant recognition of the victim as a stakeholder in the criminal trial. - The victim’s right to information has been expanded in the BNSS in three ways:
(a) Firstly, the victim has been granted the right to receive a copy of the FIR free of cost. This is a crucial information right, since the FIR is an important piece of evidence that forms the basis for the trial.
(b) Secondly, CI.193(3) BNSS requires the police to inform the victim of the progress in the investigation within ninety days and therefore allows the victim to be aware of possible lapses and delays in the investigation.
(c) Thirdly, CI.230 BNSS provides victims with a crucial right to information about the details of their case through the mandatory provision of the police report, FIR, witness statements, etc., which is meant to enable effective and meaningful participation of the victim in the criminal process. It may be mentioned that the rights under Cl.193(3) are available to - are available to both victims and accused.
- The BNSS has institutionally recognised the right to register Zero FIRs under CI.173. Therefore, the Bill prohibits the police from using a lack of territorial jurisdiction as a reason to avoid their duty to record first information and helps to eliminate one of the hurdles faced by victims in registering an FIR. This is an important safeguard. Therefore, the Bill helps to eliminate one of the hurdles faced by victims in registering an FIR.
- Provisions have been incorporated to provide information to victims at various stages of investigation and trial.
