Victims of Crime: Restoration and Legal Care under Indian Criminal Jurisprudence

Abstract

JUSTICE, a quality of being just and fair is the foundation of the universe. Pursuit of justice has been considered as the purpose and the sole aim of life by philosophers, religious heads, priests and creators of didactic literature. The texts and verses acknowledged as holy by religions around the world teach justice as a supreme and lofty goal of life, and causing injustice to others is treated as a sin, forbidden by God. In addition to the religious texts, great thinkers and reformers have also advocated for justice. Even before the codification of modern law, justice has been put on the highest pedestal of human life. People, irrespective of their faith, beliefs and political ideologies, have accepted justice as a core virtue and value of life. The wealth or pleasures opposed to justice and righteousness have always been disapproved of by the people. Justice reflects civilization, culture and the quality or living standard of people. Therefore, in the ancient world, the King who was supposed to govern the land and its citizens retained the task of administering justice. The dispensation of justice to the deserving subjects and those whose justiciable rights were infringed or claims were denied, was given the highest priority. The longing for justice is a man‘s eternal happiness, one that man cannot find alone, as an isolated individual, and hence seeks it in society. Justice is social happiness. It is happiness guaranteed by a social order.3 The concept of justice has been viewed according to the perspectives of an individual and the ideology he follows. It has been basically understood on three different approaches