The Decision in Satya Pal Singh: A Pressing Need to Re-visit the Law Relating to Victim’s Appeal

This article argues that that the Learned Division Bench of Hon’ble Apex Court erred in the case of Satya Pal Singh vs. State of Madhya Pradesh where it held that a ‘victim’ as defined under section 2(wa) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (‘the Code’), could only prefer a leave to appeal against acquittal under section 378 (3) and not prefer an appeal directly under the proviso to section 372 of the Code. It is argued that such an interpretation places an unnecessary restriction on the victim’s right to appeal and has little basis to support itself. The interpretation adopted by the Hon’ble Apex Court in Satya Pal Singh is palpably at variance with the text of the Code itself, which leads to further inconsistent implications.