It is up to the appellate court to direct presence of the accused or exempt his personal appearance at the time of hearing of the appeal against acquittal filed by the complainant or by the State, as the case may be.
In fact, under Section 390 Cr.P.C., the High Court may even direct arrest and custody of the accused in appeal from acquittal:
“390. Arrest of accused in appeal from acquittal.— When an appeal is presented under Section 378, the High Court may issue a warrant directing that the accused be arrested and brought before it or any subordinate Court, and the Court before which he is brought may commit him to prison pending the disposal of the appeal or admit him to bail.”
The complainant and accused are supposed to bear their own expenses. The accused may seek legal aid lawyer if he does not have money.
Since appeal against acquittal is also one of the provisions made in the law, you cannot stop the complainant from exercising his legal remedies available to him under law. If the complainant is exercising his right of appeal given to him under law, I don’t think it can be said to be harassment of the accused. In fact, if the appellate court feels that appeal against acquittal filed by the complainant is bogus, it may be dismissed at the early stage, and where leave is required to be taken for filing such appeal, such leave itself may be refused.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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