Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant inaugurated India’s first Victim Rights Centre (VRC) at the Bihar State Legal Services Authority (BSLSA) premises in Patna on 26 September 2026. The Centre will work as a single-window gateway where a crime victim is received once and guided to every benefit the law already promises. The same event also saw the release of a VRC guidebook, the flagging off of nine Multi-Utility Vehicles (MUVs) and the launch of a Transgender Helpline.
What Is BNSS and What Rights Do Victims Have Under It?
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) is India’s main criminal procedure law that replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure from 1 July 2024. The BNSS defines a victim, protects the right to information and participation, and requires every state to run a victim compensation scheme.
The BNSS replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), along with two companion laws that reformed substantive criminal law and evidence law. The BNSS lays down the full journey of a criminal case, from reporting of crime and investigation to trial and compensation. For victims, the shift is clear. The earlier system centred on the state and the accused. The BNSS gives the victim a visible legal place at each stage.
Under Section 2(1)(y) of the BNSS, a victim means a person who has suffered loss or injury because of the act or omission of the accused person. The definition also includes the guardian or legal heir of such victim. The BNSS removed the earlier condition that the accused must have been formally charged, so a victim can seek support faster.
The BNSS protects three kinds of victim interests. First is the right to information. A victim who files a First Information Report under Section 173 of the BNSS is entitled to get a copy of the recorded information free of cost. Police must also inform the victim about progress of investigation. Second is the right to participate. Under Section 18(8) of the BNSS, a victim can engage an advocate of choice to assist the prosecution, though the advocate argues mainly through written notes unless the court permits otherwise. Third is the right to protection and care. Statements of victims in sexual offences must be recorded by a woman police officer, medically examined under set safeguards, and recorded at home or a place of choice when the victim has temporary or permanent disability.
The strongest economic right sits in Section 396 of the BNSS, which continues the earlier Section 357A of the CrPC. Every state government, in coordination with the central government, must prepare a victim compensation scheme. The scheme pays money for loss, injury and rehabilitation. Courts can recommend compensation at the time of trial, and victims can also apply directly when the offender is not traced or identified.
What Is the Victim Rights Centre in Patna?
The Victim Rights Centre (VRC) in Patna is India’s first dedicated single-window facility that receives a crime victim at one point, maps every legal entitlement due to that person, and follows each claim to its end. Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant inaugurated the Centre on 26 September 2026 at the Bihar State Legal Services Authority (BSLSA) campus in Patna.
The VRC addresses a coordination gap, not a gap in law. Indian law already promises compensation, free legal aid, medical help, counselling, protection and rehabilitation. These benefits sit with different bodies such as police, hospitals, courts, Child Welfare Committees, One Stop Centres and welfare departments. A victim often has to visit each counter separately and repeat a painful account each time. Many entitlements therefore go unclaimed.
The Patna model changes that flow. The VRC registers the victim once and keeps a case record for every file, so the victim does not have to repeat the same account at every office. Centre staff identify all possible relief in that specific case. Then they coordinate with the concerned agency and track progress against internal timelines for which the Centre remains accountable to BSLSA.
The Centre creates no new statutory body and needs no fresh legislation. The VRC works from the existing BSLSA premises with existing personnel and resources. It draws on police, hospitals, Child Welfare Committees, One Stop Centres, state departments and field organisations already working in Bihar. Policy direction rests with a steering committee chaired by a judge of the Patna High Court, with Justice Ajeet Kumar as its first chairman.
Chief Justice Surya Kant summed up the idea at the launch by saying that justice must not wait for the citizen to find it, the justice system must find its way to the citizen. He added that a victim should not have to learn the law to receive what the law already promises. He also said the success of the four Patna initiatives should be judged by whether calls are answered, entitlements reach people, painful repetition is avoided and legal help reaches areas with limited access to courtrooms.
How Will the Centre Work in Practice?
The BSLSA has published a formal guidebook on the VRC that explains the scheme, the binding Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and the prescribed forms for recording each stage. Advocate Shama Sinha, who serves as project coordinator of the Centre and proposed the project, wrote the publication. Chief Justice Surya Kant released the book at the inauguration. The book is meant to serve as a practical manual, so every judicial officer, legal services functionary and field worker in Bihar knows what the Centre does, who it serves and how a victim can reach it.
The working method follows a simple case lifecycle. Each contact creates a written record. Each entitlement gets a timeline. Each step is reviewed until closure. The rule on closure is strict. A case is closed only when relief has been obtained and the outcome has been verified, or when the victim asks in writing that the case be closed.
| Stage at the VRC | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Intake and recording | The VRC receives the victim at a single entry point and records the account once in the prescribed form |
| Entitlement mapping | Staff list every benefit due in that case, such as compensation, legal aid, medical care, counselling, protection and rehabilitation |
| Referral and coordination | The VRC sends the case to police, hospital, Child Welfare Committee, One Stop Centre or welfare department concerned and follows up |
| Timeline tracking | Each referral carries an internal timeline, and progress is reviewed by BSLSA |
| Verified closure | The file is closed only after actual receipt of relief is verified or on the written request of the victim |
The VRC will function as a 12 month pilot in Patna district. BSLSA will evaluate the results at the end of the pilot period. If the model proves effective, BSLSA will extend it to other districts through the respective District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs). This phased design keeps costs low in the beginning and allows the SOP to be corrected with field learning before statewide rollout.
Victimology, the branch of criminology that studies the relationship between an injured person and the offender and examines the causes and nature of suffering, supports this approach. Research in this field has long shown that secondary harm often comes from repeated questioning, delay and lack of information. A single record, clear timelines and verified delivery directly reduce that second layer of harm.
Bihar State Legal Services Authority: Venue and Implementing Authority
The Bihar State Legal Services Authority (BSLSA) is the state level body that hosts and runs the VRC from its Patna campus. BSLSA functions under the national legal services network to provide free and competent legal help and to organise Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes.
BSLSA is headed by the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court as Patron-in-Chief. The VRC project was conceived and approved under the guidance of Justice V. Kameswar Rao, Chief Justice of the Patna High Court and Patron-in-Chief of BSLSA, along with Justice Sudhir Singh, Judge of the Patna High Court and Executive Chairman of BSLSA. Day to day policy direction for the VRC rests with the steering committee mentioned above.
The inauguration ceremony brought this institutional chain together on one stage. Chief Justice Surya Kant, who is the Patron-in-Chief of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) (as of October 2026), inaugurated the initiatives in the presence of Justice V. Kameswar Rao, Justice Sudhir Singh, other judges of the Patna High Court, senior officials of the district judiciary and members of the Bar. Justice Rao described the VRC as an important step toward making justice more accessible and responsive to those who suffer because of crime. He noted that debate on criminal justice often focuses on investigation, evidence, trial, conviction and acquittal, while the victim fades from the story after the first statement.
BSLSA implements both central NALSA schemes and its own state schemes. The list includes help for disaster victims, trafficking survivors, workers in the unorganised sector, children, persons with mental illness, senior citizens and acid attack survivors. The VRC now gives BSLSA a single delivery window to connect a victim to the right scheme without delay.
What Is Victim Compensation Scheme and How to Claim It?
Victim compensation is money paid by the state to a person who has suffered loss or injury from crime and needs rehabilitation. A victim compensation scheme is the state notified fund and procedure that fixes who can apply, how claims are verified, and how much is paid.
The idea of state funded rehabilitation entered Indian law in 2009 with Section 357A of the CrPC, now carried forward as Section 396 of the BNSS. Under this provision, compensation from the state is in addition to any fine based compensation that a trial court orders the convict to pay. Every state and union territory has now notified its own victim compensation scheme. Bihar notified its first scheme in 2011, framed a fresh Bihar Victim Compensation Scheme in 2014, and amended it in July 2018 to align with central guidelines.
Compensation can arise in four situations. A court can recommend payment on conviction, on acquittal where the victim still needs rehabilitation, on discharge on the same ground, and where the offender is neither traced nor identified but the victim is known. The claim moves through two routes. First, the trial court can recommend the case to the District Legal Services Authority or State Legal Services Authority, which then decides the amount after verification. The court can also recommend further state compensation when the fine based amount is too low for rehabilitation. Second, the victim or dependents can apply directly to the DLSA or SLSA when the offender is unknown. The authority must complete inquiry quickly, normally within sixty days, and decide the amount based on gravity of loss, medical costs, loss of livelihood, and rehabilitation needs.
| Claim Situation | Who Starts the Process | Who Decides the Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Conviction with inadequate fine compensation | Trial court recommends to DLSA or SLSA | DLSA or SLSA after verification |
| Acquittal or discharge but victim needs rehabilitation | Trial court recommends to DLSA or SLSA | DLSA or SLSA after verification |
| Offender not traced or identified | Victim or dependents apply to DLSA or SLSA | DLSA or SLSA after inquiry |
| Sexual assault or acid attack with urgent needs | Court or victim seeks interim relief | DLSA or SLSA can grant interim payment first |
Special top ups strengthen the base scheme. Following directions of the Supreme Court in the Nipun Saxena case, NALSA prepared the Compensation Scheme for Women Victims and Survivors of Sexual Assault and Other Crimes, 2018. Many states added it as a separate chapter in their own schemes. The central government supports state funds through the Central Victim Compensation Fund (CVCF) under the Nirbhaya Fund, with a one time grant of ₹200 crore released to states and union territories in 2016-17. Interim relief is also available under the POCSO Rules, 2020 for child victims and under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) framework, where the DLSA route works alongside special relief rules. No claim under motor vehicle accidents goes through this window, since those cases belong to Motor Accident Claims Tribunals.
A common doubt is whether a victim can claim compensation even without a conviction. The answer is yes. A victim can claim compensation when the case ends in acquittal or discharge but rehabilitation is still needed, and also when the offender is never found. Another common doubt is about tax. Compensation paid for personal loss or rehabilitation is generally treated on the facts of each receipt and governing notifications, so claimants should keep the award order and seek advice on the tax treatment of the specific amount.
Transgender Helpline, SITARA Scheme and Multi-Utility Vehicles
The Patna event launched three support tools alongside the VRC. Chief Justice Surya Kant flagged off nine Multi-Utility Vehicles (MUVs), launched a dedicated Transgender Helpline and released the VRC guidebook. The four efforts share one aim. Legal help must travel to people who cannot easily reach a courtroom or legal services office.
The nine MUVs will carry legal assistance beyond fixed offices. These mobile units can visit villages, urban clusters, schools, shelter homes and disaster affected pockets to spread legal literacy, collect applications, connect callers to panel lawyers and link beneficiaries to Lok Adalats. The fleet strength matters for Bihar, a large state where distance and daily wage loss often stop poor households from seeking help. Mobile units cut both costs by meeting people close to home.
The Transgender Helpline will work under the SITARA Scheme. The brief expansion given at the event reads Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Access to Resources. In Bihar, BSLSA lists the operational instrument as the Scheme for Integration of Transgender-person and their Rehabilitation and providing Access to Justice, 2023, widely cited as SITARA, 2023. The helpline will serve as the delivery point for that scheme.
The 2023 scheme gives effect to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. The Act, passed by Parliament in 2019, recognises the identity of transgender persons and prohibits discrimination in education, employment, health care and access to public services. The Supreme Court judgment in National Legal Services Authority versus Union of India (2014), known as the NALSA judgment, forms the constitutional base for this protection by recognising self identified gender identity and directing welfare measures.
In practice, the helpline will help callers obtain transgender identity certificates and link them to housing, employment, skill training, health care and welfare benefits. BSLSA staff will also guide callers to free legal aid where a rights violation needs a lawyer or a Lok Adalat reference. The national legal aid helpline 15100 and state front offices provide the wider backbone for such calls, while the new dedicated helpline gives transgender persons a sensitive first contact point.
Legal Services Authority Act, 1987: Institutional Framework
The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 provides the legal base for NALSA, BSLSA and the VRC. Parliament passed the Act on 11 October 1987 to give free and competent legal services to weaker sections and to organise Lok Adalats. The Act came into force on 9 November 1995 after amendments in 1994 created a uniform national network. The law gives effect to Article 39A of the Constitution, which directs the state to provide free legal aid and to ensure that justice is not denied because of economic or other disability.
The Act creates a four tier network. The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), housed in New Delhi, lays down policies, frames schemes, allocates funds and monitors work across the country. The Chief Justice of India serves as Patron-in-Chief of NALSA. Every state has a State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) headed by the Chief Justice of the High Court as Patron-in-Chief, with a senior High Court judge as Executive Chairman. Each district has a District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) headed by the District Judge, and sub divisions have Taluk Legal Services Committees. A Supreme Court Legal Services Committee and High Court Legal Services Committees support litigants at those levels.
Section 12 of the Act lists who can receive free legal services. The list includes women and children, members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, victims of trafficking and begar, industrial workmen, persons in custody or protective homes, persons with disability, victims of mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster, and persons with low annual income under state notified limits. Transgender persons and acid attack survivors are covered under specific NALSA and state notifications and schemes.
The functions explain why BSLSA could launch the VRC without a new law. SLSAs give legal aid, hold Lok Adalats, run preventive legal literacy programmes and coordinate with government departments and voluntary bodies. DLSAs decide victim compensation amounts on court reference or direct application. The NALSA Legal Services Management System now records applications digitally, which helps track timelines of the kind the VRC promises for every victim file.
The Way Forward
The Patna VRC is a pilot, not a final rollout. BSLSA will run the Centre in Patna for twelve months and then evaluate case records, timelines and verified outcomes. The review will test four simple questions that Chief Justice Surya Kant placed before the system. Are calls answered effectively. Do promised benefits actually reach people. Are victims spared repeated narration. Does legal help reach communities with weak court access.
If the answers are positive, the SOP will be refined and carried to other districts through DLSAs. The mobile MUV fleet and the Transgender Helpline give ready tools for that scale up, because both create last mile contact in rural and marginalised pockets. The guidebook written for the pilot will make replication easier, since new districts will inherit forms, timelines and role clarity instead of starting from zero.
The larger test lies in funding and convergence. Victim compensation depends on state funds topped up by central support, and on quick verification by police and hospitals. Legal aid depends on trained panel lawyers and para legal volunteers. Protection and rehabilitation depend on One Stop Centres, Child Welfare Committees and welfare departments. The VRC does not replace any of these bodies. Its value will come from making them act together on a single file within a fixed time.
Key Takeaways
- India’s first Victim Rights Centre was inaugurated on 26 September 2026 at the BSLSA premises in Patna, Bihar by Chief Justice Surya Kant.
- The Centre is a 12 month pilot in Patna that works as a single window, and a case is closed only after verified receipt of relief or on the written request of the victim.
- Victim compensation flows from Section 396 of the BNSS (earlier Section 357A of the CrPC), with the amount decided by the DLSA or SLSA on court reference or direct application.
- The event also launched a Transgender Helpline under the SITARA Scheme and flagged off nine Multi-Utility Vehicles for mobile legal aid.
- The legal services network stands on the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, passed on 11 October 1987 and enforced on 9 November 1995, giving effect to Article 39A on free legal aid.
