Victim's independent right of appeal against acquittal under criminal procedure law extends beyond Section 378 control

Section 2(wa) of the Code of Criminal Procedure is construed broadly to include a person who suffers loss or injury from the act charged, including direct commercial or intellectual property harm. The proviso to Section 372 confers an independent victim's right of appeal against acquittal and is not controlled by Section 378. That right is not limited to appeals from trial court acquittals and does not depend on the victim also being the complainant; the appellate forum is identified by reference to the court to which an appeal would ordinarily lie from a conviction by the court that passed the acquittal.

---

---

Issues: Whether the appellant fell within the definition of "victim" under Section 2(wa) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and could maintain an appeal under the proviso to Section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 against an acquittal recorded by the First Appellate Court, or whether Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 controlled the field.

Analysis: The definition of "victim" in Section 2(wa) is of wide amplitude and includes a person who has suffered loss or injury by reason of the act charged. On the facts, the appellant's intellectual property and commercial interests were directly affected by the alleged sale of counterfeit products, so the appellant answered that description. The proviso to Section 372 confers an independent and substantive right on the victim to appeal against an order of acquittal and is not made subject to Section 378. The appellate forum is determined by the court to which an appeal ordinarily lies from the order of conviction of the court that passed the acquittal, and the provision is not confined to acquittals by the trial court. The right of the victim to appeal is not dependent on the victim also being the complainant, and the appellant's appeal was therefore maintainable before the High Court.

Conclusion: The appellant was a victim within Section 2(wa) and was entitled to maintain the appeal under the proviso to Section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; the contrary view of the High Court was erroneous.

Ratio Decidendi: The proviso to Section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 creates an independent right of appeal in favour of a victim against an acquittal, and that right is not curtailed by Section 378 or by the fact that the acquittal was recorded by the first appellate court.

---