Victim-complainant appeal rights under CrPC require use of Section 372 first, not special leave under Section 378(4).

Where the complainant is also the victim, the proviso to Section 372 CrPC gives a statutory right of appeal against acquittal, and that remedy must be pursued first. Section 378(4) CrPC, which permits a complainant in a complaint case to seek special leave to appeal, is not the proper route when the Section 372 appeal is already available to the same person. The distinction matters only where the complainant and victim are different persons; in that situation, recourse under Section 378(4) may remain available. On these facts, the petitioners were required to file the statutory appeal under Section 372, and special leave under Section 378(4) was not entertained.

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Issues: Whether the complainant, being also the victim, was required to exhaust the statutory appeal under Section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before seeking special leave to appeal under Section 378(4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Analysis: The application arose from dismissal of a complaint under the Negotiable Instruments Act. The Court noted that the proviso to Section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure confers a statutory right of appeal on the victim against an acquittal, and that this remedy was available to the petitioners because they were both complainants and victims. Section 378(4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which enables a complainant in a complaint case to seek special leave to appeal, was held not to be the appropriate route where the statutory appeal under Section 372 was already available. The Court further observed that where the complainant and the victim are different persons, recourse to Section 378(4) may be maintainable, but not where the same person occupies both roles.

Conclusion: The petitioners were required to pursue the statutory appeal under Section 372 first, and special leave to appeal under Section 378(4) was not granted.

Ratio Decidendi: When the complainant is also the victim and a statutory appeal is available under the Code of Criminal Procedure, special leave to appeal under Section 378(4) cannot be entertained without first exhausting that statutory appellate remedy.

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