No Appeal Can Be Maintained By 'Victim' U/S 372 CrPC On The Ground Of Inadequacy Of Sentence: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has reiterated that no appeal can be maintained by the victim under Section 372 CrPC on the ground of inadequacy of sentence and therefore, the appeal preferred by the 'victim' [as defined under Section 2w (wa) of the Cr.P.C.] of the crime against the inadequacy of sentence is not maintainable.

The bench of Justice Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan in its order clarified that the appeal under Section 372 Cr.P.C. [No appeal to lie unless otherwise provided] could only be filed on the happening of three situations namely

(i) When the accused person(s) have been acquitted;

(ii) When the accused person(s) have been convicted for a lesser offence;

(iii) Where inadequate compensation has been imposed by the Court (s).

The case in brief

The Court was dealing with an appeal filed by the 'victim'  under Section 372 Cr.P.C. against a judgment and order passed by the Judicial Magistrate, Ambedkar Nagar whereby the trial Court had convicted the private respondents under Sections 323, 498-A, 506 I.P.C. and Section 3/4 D.P. Act.

The appeal was moved because the accused persons/private respondents were given the benefit of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 and released on probation, and therefore, the 'Victim' (present applicant) moved the instant appeal on the ground of inadequacy of sentence.

It may be noted that the instant appeal also challenged the judgment and order passed by the Appellate Court i.e. Additional Sessions Judge (Fast Track Court-II), Ambedkar Nagar, whereby the appeal preferred by the state against the sentence was also dismissed.

Court's observations 

At the outset, the Court clarified that an appeal could only be preferred in accordance with the scheme provided in the Cr.P.C. or provided by any other law for the time being in force.

Further referring to Section 372 Cr.P.C., the Bench observed that this provision says that the victim may prefer an appeal against any judgment or order passed by the Court acquitting the accused or convicting for a lesser offence or imposing inadequate compensation, however, the Court added, no appeal could be preferred on the ground of inadequacy of sentence.

Further, the Court stressed that the issue of law in question - as to whether a victim of the crime may prefer an appeal under section 372 Crpc against the inadequacy of sentence awarded to the accused persons - has been clarified by the Apex Court in the case of National Commission For Women v. State of Delhi, (2010) 12 SCC 599 and Parvinder Kansal v. State (NCT of Delhi), (2020) 19 SCC 496.

In both these cases, the Court observed, the Apex Court held (in light of Section 372 CrPC) that no appeal can be maintained by the victim under Section 372 CrPC on the ground of inadequacy of sentence.

With this, the appeal preferred by the victim of the crime against the inadequacy of sentence was held to be not maintainable and was dismissed as such.

Case title - Shireen v. State Of U.P. And Ors [APPLICATION U/S 378 No. - 142 of 2017]

Case Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (AB) 319

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