Victim status under criminal procedure requires loss or injury from the charged act; a witness without that link cannot appeal acquittal.

The right of appeal is statutory and available only to persons expressly entitled under the Code. A witness who was not shown to have suffered loss or injury from the acts charged could not qualify as a "victim" under Section 2(wa) and therefore could not invoke the proviso to Section 372 to challenge the acquittal. The Court noted that the appellant's grievance arose from a separate alleged extortion-linked episode, not from the offences tried in the present case, and held that he had no maintainable appeal against acquittal.

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Issues: (i) Whether a witness who was not shown to have suffered loss or injury from the acts for which the accused were charged could maintain an appeal against acquittal as a victim under the proviso to Section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Analysis: The right of appeal is a creature of statute and can be exercised only by persons expressly entitled under the Code. The proviso to Section 372 confers a right on a victim, and Section 2(wa) defines a victim as a person who has suffered loss or injury by reason of the act or omission for which the accused has been charged. The charges in the case related to abduction, murder, conspiracy and destruction of evidence, while the appellant's asserted grievance arose from a separate alleged extortion-linked episode in another case. The appellant was examined as a witness, but the Court found no charge or deposition showing that he suffered loss or injury from the offences tried in the present case. On that basis, he did not answer the statutory definition of victim and could not claim a right of appeal against acquittal. The Court also noted that, apart from the categories expressly provided in Section 378, no other person can maintain such an appeal.

Conclusion: The appeal by the witness was not maintainable under Section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and was liable to be dismissed.

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