Patna, Sep 26 Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday noted with concern that the criminal justice process has largely been built around the accused and the offence, while the victim often disappears from the process after giving a statement until the day of testimony.
Kant made the remarks while inaugurating a Victim Rights Centre (VRC) at the Bihar State Legal Services Authority (BSLSA) premises here.
“For too long, the criminal justice process has been built around the accused and the offence. The victim walks in, gives a statement, and often disappears from the story until the day of testimony,” he said, according to a BSLSA statement.
“What happens to that person in the months in between is rarely anyone’s direct responsibility. A victim frequently experiences the process itself as a second injury, arriving already wounded and then made to navigate a system that speaks a language not known to them,” he said.
Along with the VRC, the CJI launched three other facilities — a booklet documenting the centre’s work, a helpline for the transgender community and a multi-utility vehicle.
“These are guided by the same conviction that justice must not wait for the citizen to find it. The justice system must find its way to the citizen,” Kant said.
He said the VRC would bring compensation schemes, legal and medical assistance, counselling, protection and rehabilitation services under a single platform.
“These entitlements are scattered across different statutes, departments and institutions. They may all exist in law, yet remain beyond the reach of the person who needs them most. Many victims do not know where to look for them. Some never find them at all,” Kant said.
The CJI said the centre will ensure “one centre, one file, one point of accountability.”
“That is what coordinated victim support means, and that is what we are inaugurating today,” he added.
Kant said the booklet was a practical guide to understanding the centre, its processes and the manner in which a victim can access its support, while the helpline will function on the “principle of accessibility” to serve those, like transgender communities, who have historically found the justice system difficult to approach.
“For a person facing harassment or discrimination, the first difficulty may still be knowing where to seek help, or finding legal assistance without fear of public scrutiny…The barrier to justice can arise even before a case is filed. The helpline launched today seeks to address precisely that barrier,” he said.
The multi-utility vehicle will carry legal awareness, documentation support and first-point assistance to villages and settlements beyond the immediate reach of the courtroom, the CJI said.
“In doing so, it reminds us that access to justice is not complete when an institution opens its doors. It is complete when those who need it can actually find their way to those doors,” he added.
(PTI News)
