Right to Compensation for Wrongful Prosection, Incarceration, and Conviction: A Necessity of the Contemporary Indian Socio-Legal Framework
![handle is hein.journals/ijlmhs10 and id is 476 raw text is: International Journal of Law) Management & Humanities
Right to Compensation for Wrongful Prosecution,
Incarceration, and Conviction: A Necessity of the
Contemporary Indian Socio-Legal Framework
UDAI YASHVIR SINGHI AND SMITA SINGH2
ABSTRACT
In contemporary India, one of the numerous pertinent issues that trouble the Indian socio-
legal framework is that of providing victims of wrongful prosecutions, incarcerations, and
convictions a statutory right to claim compensation from the state. This paper dwells on
this aspect of victim compensation and discusses the wide scope for innocent under-trial
prisoners undergoing prolonged periods of wrongful incarceration and the detrimental
effects of such wrongful incarceration on these prisoners. The paper further discusses the
right to compensation for such wrongful acts as provided in the provisions of various
international treaties and covenants and as provided by the domestic laws of various
modern democracies such as The United Kingdom, The United States of America, and
Canada. Various provisions in the Indian constitution enable the victims of wrongful
prosecutions, incarcerations, and convictions to approach the court for availing
compensation, and furthermore, there is a rich compensatory jurisprudence evolved by the
Supreme Court through various landmark pronouncements regarding the same. However,
the still pervasive lacunae in the current legal framework are pointedly demonstrated by
this paper. The authors finally conclude the paper by highlighting the recommendations
provided by the Law Commission of India and further providing their own suggestions
about the necessary reforms to provide a statutory right to compensation to victims of
wrongful prosecutions, incarcerations, and convictions.
I. INTRODUCTION
It was noted by the English jurist William Blackstone that 'It is better that ten guilty persons
escape than that one innocent suffer'3. This principle of law is recognized as a fundamental
element of every legal system operating in a modern democracy. However, this principle also
highlights the importance of the protection of innocent people from wrongful legal actions in
any democracy.
1 Author is a Student at National Law University, Delhi, India.
2 Author is a Student at National Law University, Delhi, India.
3 WILLIAM BLACKSTONE, COMMENTARIES ON THE LAWS OF ENGLAND.
© 2021. International Journal of Law Management & Humanities [ISSN 2581-5369]
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[Vol. 4 Iss 2; 435]](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ijlmhs10&div=43&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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