Victim-Centric Justice and the Rights of the Accused Achieving Constitutional Balance in Criminal Proceedings

Abstract

This Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, marks a paradigm shift in the Indian Criminal Justice System (CJS) by shifting the focus from merely accused-centric justice to a more restorative and victim-centric approach. This change is supported by statutory provisions including the statutory right of the victim to be heard before a prosecution is dropped (Section 360) and the inclusion of State-funded Victim Compensation Schemes separate from a criminal conviction (Section 396). This paper, however, discusses how the balance between the expanding victim empowerment and the basic rights of the accused under Article 21 of the Constitution of India is likely to be a conflict of interest. The analysis is based on official national statistics and shows a huge penal crisis, with 73% of the prison population being pre-trial detainees. However, structural inadequacies in the law enforcement capacity and judiciary system remain a danger to constitutional balance, with some progressives arguing for more liberal detention criteria for first offenders, such as those proposed in Section 479 of the BNSS. This paper brings to a close the debate on balancing victim-centricity and the presumption of innocence without holistic capacity development and statutory remedies for wrongful prosecution.