Constitution of India, 1950
Article 226 read with Section 482 of CrPC—Writ—Prayer for release from judicial custody—Petitioners, after the pronouncement of judgment of conviction, were taken into judicial custody and date for hearing arguments on point of sentence was fixed ten weeks thereafter—Non-compliance of directions issued in Karan v. State NCT of Delhi, Crl. Appeal No. 352 of 2020—Criminal courts, though are duty bound to consider rights of victim, they cannot, at the same time, overlook or brush aside the rights of an accused or a convict—A person who gets convicted has a statutory right to challenge conviction in a higher court as well as seek suspension of sentence—However, such statutory right can only be exercised once order on sentence is also pronounced by the Court concerned, as sentence is a part of the judgment in a trial—Failure of Trial Court to follow the timeline for filing of affidavits by convicts and State, Victim Impact Report, as well as summoning the victims, though the same should have been adhered with utmost precision, and the said documents could even have been called for within a shorter period of time, more so because the petitioners were taken into custody after pronouncement of judgment of conviction and were rendered remediless, who had to approach the High Court by way of present petition—Long date of 70 days given for hearing arguments on sentence was not reasonable, since accused persons had been taken into custody—Date fixed by trial court for hearing arguments on sentence stands cancelled—Parties are directed to appear before the Trial Court when the Court shall take up the matter for hearing, and shall call for reports [in compliance of judgment of Karan v. State NCT of Delhi, Crl. Appeal No. 352 of 2020] expeditiously by specifying the dates for calling such reports, if not received yet, and also fix earliest possible date to hear arguments on sentence as per law.
[Paras 18 & 19]
Criminal Procedure
Compensation to victim—Timeline for filing of affidavits by convicts and State—Filing of Victim Impact Report by DSLSA—Period of 10 days or 30 days as mentioned in the decision of Karan v. State NCT of Delhi, Crl. Appeal No. 352 of 2020 is the maximum period, and not the minimum time period.
Held : The period of 10 days for filing of affidavit of income and assets by the accused is the outer limit for filing the same, and similarly, assessing the paying capacity of accused and filing of Victim Impact Report by DSLSA, and filing of cost of prosecution by State within 30 days is also the outer time limit.
[Para 17.4]
Criminal Justice System
Speedy trial—Valuable right—It is the duty of the courts to ensure that rights of victim and of accused are balanced—No doubt, striking a balance is a delicate task, however, the canons of criminal justice system so demand that an accused who is in judicial custody as well as any other person facing criminal trial, especially, those who are in judicial custody be given speedy trial by ensuring early hearings—Courts have to remain conscious of the fact that taking a person into judicial custody is taking away a valuable right of a person.
[Para 15]