Subhas Chandra Sarkar v. The State of West Bengal & Ors. 2026 INSC 1052
The Supreme Court has ruled that an appeal by a victim against an order of acquittal passed by a Magistrate must be filed before the Sessions Court and not the High Court, pursuant to the proviso to Section 413 read with Section 415(3) of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS). Dismissing a petition filed by a father challenging a Magistrate’s acquittal in a medical negligence and suicide case, the bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran also held that a coordinate bench of the High Court is fully empowered to dismiss a matter on maintainability at the final hearing stage, regardless of whether a prior judge had initially admitted it. To protect the petitioner’s rights from bona fide procedural delays, the Apex Court granted him one month to file the appeal before the jurisdictional Sessions Court.
When a victim wants to challenge a Magistrate’s decision to acquit someone in a criminal trial, the appeal must go to the Sessions Court (not the High Court), and the Supreme Court confirmed that courts have every right to correct maintainability issues later in the proceedings even if an earlier judge initially accepted the case.
The petitioner’s son, who suffered from depressive disorders, was admitted to a hospital where he tragically died by suicide. Believing the death was caused by the medical negligence of a doctor and a nurse, the petitioner (the victim’s father) registered an FIR under Section 304A read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
After the Judicial Magistrate acquitted the accused, the petitioner challenged the decision by filing an appeal. This triggered a legal dispute over whether the appeal should be heard by the High Court or the Sessions Court under the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), leading to the matter eventually reaching the Supreme Court.
