Rights of Victims of Crime - Need for a Fresh Look: Justice Anand

Dr. Justice A.S. Anand, Chairperson of the Commission has said that there is an urgent need to take a fresh look and recognize the rights of the victims of crime in the criminal justice delivery system. He was speaking at the R.V. Kelkar Memorial Lecture at the Faculty of Law University of Delhi on 30 April 2005.
Highlighting the shortcomings in the present criminal justice delivery system in protecting the rights of the victims of crime, Justice Anand said that the victim is reduced to the status of being merely an 'informer' and the rights of accused take precedence over the rights of the victim. While there are some 'illusory' rights available to the victims of crime, but even those are grossly inadequate, he observed.
The law, Justice Anand said, today, fails to address the needs of the victims to be treated with dignity, to be protected from intimidation inside or outside the courtroom especially victims of sexual offences in the courts during their cross-examination.
A victim of crime in this country, according to Justice Anand, has hardly any guaranteed right except may be of getting some assistance by way of payment of compensation, but even here the statutory provisions are grossly inadequate. These provisions suffer from inherent limitations and are invoked grudgingly, sparingly and often inconsistently by the courts.
While the Law Commission of India, in its 154th Report, recommended incorporation of a provision for a comprehensive scheme of payment of compensation for all victims fairly and adequately by the Courts, the recommendation, however, has not so far been acted upon by the Government, he said.
In his opinion, a beginning can be made by bringing about a model legislation based on the U.N. Declaration of 1985 of basic principle of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power and by setting up a fund for payment of compensation to the Victims of Crime under an independent Board For Awarding Compensation To The Victims of Crime. Finally, Justice Anand said, it is necessary that due compensation is paid to the victim of crime to assure him that the society cares and feels for him. "A victim of crime needs justice and the society is obliged to give him justice and not merely lip service", he said. Victims of crime, today, feel left out, ignored and are crying for attention and justice. "Let us hear their loud cry today - tomorrow may be too late", he observed.