In Brief
In this criminal appeal, the Supreme Court considered whether a victim can appeal against an acquittal order when the alleged offence occurred before the victim-appeal right was introduced (31 December 2009) but the acquittal was delivered after that date. The Court held that the victim's right to appeal under Section 372 of the Criminal Procedure Code is a substantive statutory right dependent on the date the acquittal order is passed, not the date of the offence. A victim can therefore appeal against acquittals in cases with pre-2009 incidents if the acquittal order came after 31 December 2009. The Court remitted the case to the High Court for hearing on merits, recognising victims' expanding rights while balancing them with the presumption of innocence.
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