1UGC-NET-JRF Scholar, Department of Criminology, Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
2Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology, Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
(*Corresponding Author) shayanatkyethadka@gmail.com
The CrPC Amendment Act 2008, inserted the historically significant provision of the Victim Compensation Scheme (shortly, VCS) under its Section 357A CrPC. The provision of VCS now comes under Sec.396 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. The section deals with compensation to be provided to the victims of certain crimes or his dependents for their suffering or loss or their rehabilitation, by the state government. However, the extent to which this section is enforced for the purpose of compensating victims remains questionable. It is also questionable whether the compensation awarded under this scheme reaches the actual victims. Many reports and studies have raised speculations about this. The rights of victims of violence must be properly met. If such victims are not accurately informed of their rights, it will undermine their trust in the criminal justice system. So, it is also necessary to identify and correct the defects, if any, in the implementation of the victim compensation scheme. The article aims to find out the major shortcomings in implementing the Victim compensation scheme and why it happened. This theoretical paper will be based on available secondary data including literature and case studies. The paper’s outcome will attempt to provide recommendations to address the shortcomings in the implementation of VCS.
Victims, victim assistance, section 357A CrPC, victim compensation scheme, implementation
