New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) The family of a victim is not "powerless" and can move the appellate court to seek enhancement of sentence in a heinous criminal case besides the state which is already empowered under the law, legal experts said on Monday.

The response from legal experts came in wake of the comments of parents of the victim in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case.

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The parents expressed dissatisfaction over the trial court's verdict which on Monday sentenced convict Sanjay Roy to "life imprisonment till death" in the case.

Claiming the investigation was done "half-heartedly" and several other culprits involved in the crime were shielded, the parents said they would move higher court for justice.

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"We are shocked. How is this not the rarest of rare case? An on-duty doctor was raped and murdered. We are dismayed. There was a larger conspiracy behind this crime," the mother told PTI.

Speaking on the legal aspect, senior advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha said victims could always move higher courts for enhancement of sentence.

"Victims can always move higher courts for enhancement of sentence. This is legally mandated," he said.

Senior lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayanan, however, opined victims family couldn't do so, except under certain circumstances.

"I don't think the family of the victim can move the higher court for enhancement of punishment," he said.

He referred to the legal provision of Section 413 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) (erstwhile Section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure) and said the victim or the family could move higher courts under three conditions -- accused was acquitted; accused was convicted for a lesser offence and if inadequate compensation was given to the victim.

Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa said the powers of a complainant to challenge the inadequacy of sentence individually were limited under law.

Pahwa said a complainant could approach the court through a criminal revision petition to contest the sentence passed by the trial court.

"The revisional court, while exercising its jurisdiction... has the authority to review the sentence and exercise powers similar to those of an appellate court," he said.

Senior advocate Shoeb Alam said under the BNSS sentences can only be challenged by the state but the victims family may not be powerless and could represent to the state, urging it to appeal against the sentence.

Alam said in terms of the proviso to Section 413 of the BNSS, the victim could only challenge an acquittal or conviction for a lesser offence or an inadequate compensation.

"A fortiori, it is the state alone that is empowered to appeal against the quantum of the sentence. The victims family however may not be powerless. They can represent to the state, urging it to appeal against the sentence especially when the prosecutor itself sought the death penalty in this case," he said.

Advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey referred to the BNSS provision, which deals with no appeal to lie unless otherwise provided.

Dubey said as per the statue, only victim shall have right to prefer an appeal against the order for convicting for lesser offence.

"Any person aggrieved may prefer an appeal with the application seeking permission to file it, but the said right is not provided in the statute and the court in its power to do complete justice, if thinks appropriate, may consider it," he said.

The Kolkata trial court held the crime did not fall under the "rarest of the rare" category, which justified not imposing the death penalty on the convict.

The victim's father said the family would continue their fight until all the other culprits were brought to the book and punished.

The court sentenced Roy to imprisonment till death after he was convicted of the rape and murder of the on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August last year.

The court also directed the state to pay Rs 17 lakh in compensation to the victim's family.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)