SC Refuses To Frame Guidelines In Uniform Compensation Code, Holds Attention Of CG And Other Stakeholders Invited, It's Up to Them

The Supreme Court disposed of the plea seeking a Uniform Compensation Code for compensating the victims of malicious prosecutions, citing that a uniform guideline created by the Court would result in creating various complications in the matters that are listed before the trial courts and the High Courts.

The bench comprising of Justice U. U. Lalit and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat while disposing of the matter observed that, "The nature of relief prayed is in the realm of laying down something by way of guidelines or in the nature of legislation. It will not be possible for this court to utilise its process for these matters. The attention of Union of India and other agencies and stakeholders has been invited to the case and is now left to them to take action."

Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay had filed the petition before the Apex Court seeking direction to the Centre to frame guidelines for compensation to victims of wrongful prosecutions and implement the recommendations of the Law Commission's Report No. 277.

As an alternative, he had sought framing of guidelines for compensation to victims of wrongful prosecutions.

Upadhyay had in his petition stated that, "Wrongful prosecution and incarceration of innocent persons with no effective statutory and legal mechanism available to the innocent persons to address the same, is causing "miscarriage of justice" and has created a blackhole in the criminal jurisprudence of our Country."

Upadhyay had also stated in his petition that due to the lack of an effective statutory mechanism regarding wrongful prosecutions, burden also falls on the judiciary due to the increasing number of cases. He had also pointed out that due to the lack of any such machinery there has been an increase in the number of false and vexatious cases being filed.