Victim can now directly appeal against acquittal before Sessions Court: HC

The ruling, successful enactment with the Supreme Court’s view, is important arsenic it says specified appeals by victims nary longer request anterior permission

The Punjab and Haryana High Court contiguous said that dense pendency was preventing appeals against acquittals from being heard for years unneurotic earlier making it wide that victims of crimes —including ones successful cheque bounce cases — could present chopped hold by straight appealing earlier the Sessions Court.

In a important judgement aimed astatine relieving litigants of procedural delays and the courts of mounting pendency, Justice Harpreet Singh Brar held that victims could straight determination the Sessions Court without archetypal seeking permission to entreaty – a procedural hurdle antecedently required erstwhile approaching the precocious court.

Justice Brar’s ruling, successful enactment with the Supreme Court’s view, is important arsenic it says specified appeals by victims nary longer request anterior permission.

“This tribunal is clogged with thousands of cases filed nether Section 378(4) of the CrPC seeking permission to entreaty against judgments of acquittal. Today itself 10 cases involving a permission to appeal, retired of 43 listed successful the question list, were enactment distant earlier this Bench. One of them pertains to the twelvemonth 2016. However, arguments person not been addressed till date,” Justice Brar asserted.

The tribunal added that a bulk of these cases pertained to acquittal emanating from complaints filed successful cheque bounce cases nether Section 138 of the NI Act with disputes involving comparatively lesser amounts.

Justice Brar asserted: “While each lawsuit is important to the Bar and the Bench, much often than not, these cases are not taken up for years owed to the dense pendency, wherever matters pertaining to beingness and liberty arsenic good arsenic transgression appeals and revisions instrumentality precedence owed to their urgent quality and comparatively higher stakes.”

The tribunal added: “The Supreme Court successful allowing the victims to record an entreaty earlier the Court of Sessions without the request to get a peculiar permission had “given a glimmer of anticipation to the galore litigants who are successful an endless hold of being heard and their cases being decided successful tenable dispatch.”

Justice Brar added it would beryllium justifiable to accidental the attack taken was rooted successful pragmatism arsenic it acknowledged the existent beingness acquisition of the litigants with an purpose to marque it little vexatious. “Needless to say, successful the future, an entreaty by the unfortunate against acquittal oregon the quantum of condemnation awarded to the accused shall prevarication lone earlier the Court of Sessions successful some State cases and those emanating from backstage complaints,” the Bench added.