Revision Against Acquittal By The Victim Is Not Maintainable: Chhattisgarh HC [Read Order]

The Chhattisgarh High Court on Friday reiterated that a revision petition cannot be entertained where an appeal lies and held that revision against acquittal order filed by a victim is not maintainable.

The batch of revision petitions emanated from a common judgment passed by the Additional Sessions Judge whereby the order of conviction passed by the Judicial Magistrate First class was set aside and the accused-respondents were acquitted from the charge of indulging in obscene acts in public, punishable under Sections 294 of IPC.

The Petitioner, Dr. Pawan Kumar Tiwari submitted that the matter demanded a stern approach as the accused-respondents were professors at an educational institution who entered his room and abused him.

"…when the culprits are the persons imparting education, the matter should be looked into with all seriousness and in the present case, adoption of such serious approach is absent and therefore invocation of appropriate jurisdiction by this Court is called for," he submitted.

However, Justice Rajani Dubey, without going into the merits of the case, dismissed the case for being non-maintainable. He concurred with the submissions of the Respondents that revision against acquittal order filed by a victim is not maintainable and the appellant ought to have filed an appeal under Section 372 of CrPC.

Section 372 of CrPC provides the right of a victim to prefer an appeal against an order of acquittal.

The court further cited Section 401(4) which prescribes that "Where under this Code an appeal lies and no appeal is brought, no proceeding by way of revision shall be entertained at the instance of the party who could have appealed."

Reliance was also placed on Supreme Court's verdict in Mallikarjun Kodagali (dead) Represented through Legal Representatives v. State of Karnataka & Ors., (2019) 2 SCC 752, wherein it had held that "on the basis of the plain language of the law and also as interpreted by several High Courts and in addition the resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations, it is quite clear to us that a victim as defined in Section 2(wa) of the Cr.P.C. would be entitled to file an appeal before the Court to which an appeal ordinarily lies against the order of conviction."

However, the court granted liberty to the Petitioner to file a special leave to appeal along with an appeal against the judgment of acquittal.

The Petitioner was represented by Advocate B. P. Sharma and the State by Advocate Anant Bajpai. 

Click here to download the  Order