R SHANTHI Vs. L SAGITHA ISSABELLA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal has been preferred by the victims of a crime challenging the acquittal of the accused recorded by respective trial Courts.

(2.) This case was originally instituted before the Courts concerned by way of private complaint by the victim for various offences. Aggrieved over the findings of the trial Court acquitting the accused, the victim has come up with this appeal, on presumption that under the proviso to Section 372 of the Cr.P.C, the appeal will lie only to this Court. Since doubt was raised earlier regarding jurisdiction of this Court to entertain such appeal, the Hon'ble single Judge of this Court referred the issue to a Full Bench and the Full Bench of this court by judgment dated 05.04.2016 in S.Ganapathy Vs. Senthil Vel, 2016 4 CTC 119, answered the reference holding that,

(3.) Thus, as per the conclusion arrived at by the Full Court in the reference cited above, the victim of a crime, who initiated prosecution of the accused by filing a private complaint, can prefer appeal, in the event of acquittal of the accused by the trial Court, only to the respective Sessions Court. The same is clear from the proviso to Section 372 of Cr.P.C. Following the conclusion of the Full Bench in the reference cited above, a single Judge of this Court (S.Nagamuthu, J.) in the case reported in D. Prabhu Vs. R. Manikandan, 2016 3 MWN(Cri) 169 (Mad), by order dated 14.11.2016, held that the appeal preferred against acquittal of the accused in the proceedings initiated by private complainant will lie only to the respective Sessions Courts and the same would not lie before this Court.