Victim Protection And Compensation Mechanisms In Financial Fraud Cases Under Sections 318 And 111 Of BNS, 2023: Doctrinal Analysis, Protection Gaps, Global Benchmarks, And Reform Proposals
- IJLLR Journal
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Alina Husain, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH PROBLEM
The paper thoroughly investigates Sections 318 and 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, in terms of both their legal bases and their practical implications, with a focus on financial fraud cases being worst affected. Financial fraud in the digital world, especially, creates multiple problems that not only cause but also spread over the whole economy. The BNS not only revolutionizes India's criminal law but also places the prevailing dimensions of cyber financial crimes in the light of redefined offenses like cheating and dishonest inducement of property delivery. The BNS has ushered India into the modern era; however, this chapter still finds critical gaps and constraints in the BNS's provisions for direct victim relief and compensation. It examines the contradiction of very strict and effective prosecution methods while victims often get very little compensation, and this is done within the wider socio-legal context of victimology, digital crime enforcement, and economic justice.
The BNS prohibits fraudulent activities, especially those that involve financial and cyber transactions. This can be done only by creating a structured system of punishments, which will be proportional to the crime and its consequences. Nevertheless, the main focus of Section 318 is on punishment while the compensation to victims is only considered as a secondary matter that needs to be timely and adequate. This highlights the necessity for a combined system that will deal with both prosecution and restitution simultaneously. In the same way, the BNS, Section 111 which deals with the organized economic crimes has also imposed heavy penalties for financial scams but it has not expressly provided for the victim compensation frameworks to be coordinated.
