Violates Fundamental Rights: Kerala HC Says 'High Time' For Setting Up Legal Framework To Compensate Victims Of Wrongful Prosecution

The Kerala High Court has remarked that it is high time for a legal framework to be set up to compensate victims of wrongful prosecution, noting that as of now, a wrongly convicted person only has a remedy under private law by instituting a suit against the State before civil court for damages. Justice Kauser Edappagath in his order remarked that wrongful convictions violate the fundamental rights of a person.“Basic human rights protections against unlawful prosecutions, illegal detentions, arrests, wrongful convictions etc., are guarantees available to every person under the umbrella of Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution. Therefore, wrongful prosecution and conviction violate a person's fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution.”Under section 273 and Section 399 of BNSS, the Court can grant compensation to a person against whom accusation was made without a ground, or arrest was made without any ground. However, under these provisions the compensation should come from the person who made the complaint or who caused the arrest. The duty of paying the compensation is vested in the complainant/informant, and there is no obligation on the State to pay the same, the court observed. The only relief is the jurisprudence of compensation for wrongful detention, prosecution and conviction developed by the Supreme Court through various judgments through its expansive interpretation of Article 21. The court observed that in Neelabati Behra v State of Orissa and Others (1999), the Supreme Court held that the Supreme Court or High Court in writ proceedings can direct the State to pay compensation for violation of a fundamental right and this was a remedy under public law. It further observed that recently in Mahabir and Others v State of Haryana (2025), the Supreme Court had held that in cases where a person has been wrongfully implicated and tried in criminal prosecution without following procedural formalities, the constitutional courts has the power to award compensation.The High Court specially mentioned 277th Report of Law Commission of India titled 'Wrongful Prosecution (Miscarriage of Justice): Legal Remedies'. The Commission recommended enactment of specific legal provision for redressal of cases of wrongful prosecution in terms of monetary and non- monetary compensation (such as counselling, mental health services, vocational/ employment skills development, etc.). The Report also recommended the cases in which a claim for compensation can be filed, designation of a Special Court to decide these claims etc. A draft bill for amendment of the Cr.PC for inclusion of these recommendations was included with the report. It thereafter said:"Though the Commission recommended amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, to give compensation in cases of miscarriage of justice resulting in wrongful prosecution of persons, they do not find a place in the new BNSS. It is high time to implement the recommendations of the Law Commission in its 277th Report to set up a legal framework to compensate victims prosecuted wrongfully". The Court observed that our legal system was designed to protect the innocent and to only punish those whose guilt has been proven beyond reasonable doubt.“Punishing an innocent is a serious miscarriage of justice. It undermines the rule of law. In the Twelfth Century, the Jewish philosopher Maimonides argued: 'It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent man to death once.' And William Blackstone famously declared in his Commentaries on the Law of England: 'Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffers.' Every legal system operating in a modern democracy, including ours, is designed to protect the innocent and ensure that only those proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt are punished.'Background of the CaseThe petitioners were wrongly convicted of murder and other offences by the trial court and were sentenced to undergo life imprisonment. On an appeal filed by the petitioners, they were acquitted by the High Court. They filed the instant petition seeking further investigation into the crime, enquiry as to under whose instructions they were falsely implicated and a compensation of Rs. 50,000 for the damages they suffered due to the wrongful prosecution and conviction.On further investigation, it was revealed that the crime was not committed by the petitioners but by a Muslim fundamental group named Jm-Iyathul Ihsaniya.It was submitted before the Court that the investigation officer has made recommendation to the State to give adequate compensation to the petition on account of being falsely implicated. Further, a recommendation has been made to initiate appropriate legal action against officer who were responsible for false implication of the petitioners.The Court directed the State to take a decision on the recommendation of the investigating officer–to grant compensation to petitioners–within 3...

Violates Fundamental Rights: Kerala HC Says 'High Time' For Setting Up Legal Framework To Compensate Victims Of Wrongful Prosecution

Manju Elsa Isac

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