All Acquittal Orders Must Be Forwarded To DLSA & District Magistrate For Due Intimation To Victim, Must Endorse Victim's Right To Appeal: Calcutta HC

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered that every order of acquittal must be forwarded to the District Magistrate and the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) for due intimation to the victim as per Section 2(wa) of the CrPC. 

The Court further directed that in every order of acquittal, the concerned trial court at the foot of the judgment must endorse the right of the victim to prefer an appeal as per the proviso to Section 372 CrPC and if necessary, to avail free legal assistance through the legal services authorities concerned to prefer such an appeal. 

The directions were issued by a Bench comprising Justice Bivas Pattanayak and Justice Joymalya Bagchi while adjudicating upon an appeal wherein there had been a delay of over 3 years in approaching the Court. The Bench was apprised that the delay was due to the penurious condition of the appellant who was unaware of her right to get free legal assistance through Legal Service authorities.

The Court noted that in none of the judgments of acquittal delivered by the Trial Courts there is an endorsement at the foot of the judgment that the victim has a right to prefer appeal under the proviso to Section 372 Cr.P.C. against the said judgment and if required may seek free legal assistance from the appropriate legal service authority to institute and prosecute to such an appeal.  

It was further observed that a failure to do so infracts the fundamental right to access to justice of the victim as enshrined under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution.

Opining that such an endorsement is imperative to secure free and effective access to justice, the Court issued the following directions, 

"(a) Copy of the judgment of acquittal be forwarded to the District Magistrate and DLSA concerned for due intimation to the victim as defined under section 2(wa) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
(b) In every copy of the judgment which ends in acquittal, the trial court shall at the foot of the judgment endorse the right of the victim to prefer an appeal under proviso to Section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and if necessary, to avail free legal assistance through the legal services authorities concerned to prefer and prosecute such appeal.
(c) Necessary steps be taken to amend the Criminal Rules and Orders and incorporate such requirement in the aforesaid Rules."

The Registrar General was ordered to communicate these directions to all the judges in the State as well as Andaman & Nicobar Islands and to place the matter before the appropriate authority for amendment of the criminal rules and orders. The compliance report was ordered to be filed in 4 weeks. 

The appellant in the instant case is an injured eyewitness and the victim who was unable to prefer the appeal expeditiously as she was unaware of her legal right to access free legal aid. Upon perusal of the record, the Court noted that the concerned judgment of acquittal had not been forwarded to the District Magistrate for due intimation to the victim. It was further noted that the appellant had not been made aware of her right to avail free legal aid for instituting and prosecuting such appeal.

"Notwithstanding passage of over four decades since the promulgation of the Legal Services Act, 1987, litigants, like the appellant/applicant remain unaware of their right to legal aid for access to justice. Purpose of rendering free legal aid to indigent persons is to ensure that the right to access to justice comes to fruition and does not remain a dead letter of law. Since the amendment in 2005 to the Code of Criminal Procedure, a victim has a statutory right to appeal against an order of acquittal which is on par with the right of a convict to appeal against an order of conviction and sentence", the Court opined further. 

Reliance was also placed on the Calcutta High Court judgment in Chobban Mallick v. State of West Bengal wherein it had been directed that every copy of judgment of acquittal must be forwarded to the District Magistrate concerned for due intimation of victim about the result of the case and that the limitation shall run from the date of such communication. 

Accordingly, the Court condoned the delay in fling the appeal by observing that the failure to prefer the appeal within time was due to non-communication of her right to prefer appeal by availing legal aid. The Court also called for the lower Court records and directed the concerned respondents to appear before the Trial Court within a fortnight. 

Case Title: Sabitri Bhunya v. The State of West Bengal and Others

Case Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Cal) 101 

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