A Constitutional And Statutory Analysis Of Conflict Between Accused And Victim Rights In Indian Justice System

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Aishwarya Patil, School of Law, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore

ABSTRACT

Balancing the rights of the accused and victims remain one of the most pressing challenges in India’s criminal justice system. Traditional legal principles, such as “innocent until proven guilty” and “let hundreds of guilty be acquitted, but one innocent should not be convicted”, demonstrate the strong adherence to the ideals of not letting the people suffer injustice. While these safeguards are essential since they help to avoid wrongful convictions and provide justice to the accused. These safeguards are however at times very discouraging and vulnerable to the victims and occur more so when individuals abuse the system to escape culpability. Simultaneously, the recent attempts to empower the rights of victims such as compensation, participatory rights, and protection from secondary victimization, reflect a beneficial step towards the appreciation of the dignity and the voices of the victims. However, these steps must be thought over. When not practiced in the appropriate way, they may endanger the due process which guarantees fairness to all concerned parties. This study explores the constitution and legislative framework in India governing both accused and victim rights and attempt to balance conflicting interests. In many cases, the safeguarding of one party comes at the cost of the other and demonstrates where the system is not effective at delivering equal justice. Lax implementation deprives the victim of the necessary support and transformation of procedures may undermine the accused rights. This shows the precariousness of this balance. Indian justice system founded on fairness that gives justice to both the victims and the accused. It needs to empower the victims since they are suffering, and their dignity is acknowledged and the presumption of innocence and right to fair trial is preserved. Not only is this a legal necessity but it is also necessary to ensure the preservation of trust in the justice system and the values of a constitutional democracy that characterize the state.

Keywords: Constitution Of India, Accused Rights, Victim Rights, Human Rights, Criminal Law, Justice System.

97. A CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY ANALYSIS OF CONFLICT BETWEEN ACCUSED AND VICTIM RIGHTS

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