SC widens scope of 'victim' to let heirs continue cases

The Supreme Court has advocated an expansive and purposive understanding of who qualifies as a “victim” under criminal law, holding that children or other legal heir of a deceased person can continue criminal proceedings and assist courts in testing the legality of orders that adversely affect the victim's interests.

- Utkarsh Anand

A bench of justices Sanjay Karol and Manoj Misra ruled that criminal revision proceedings do not necessarily abate upon the death of the person who initiated them, particularly when the revision is pursued by an informant or complainant and the underlying trial continues. The court said that revisional courts should be guided by Section 2(wa) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which defines a victim as “a person who has suffered any loss or injury" and expressly includes a guardian or legal heir.

The judgment strengthens victim participation in criminal justice.