Legal provisions regarding order to pay compensation under section 357 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
(1) When a Court imposes a sentence of fine or a sentence (including a sentence of death) of which fine forms a part, the Court may, when passing judgment, order the whole or any part of the fine recovered to be applied:
(a) In defraying the expenses of property incurred in the prosecution;
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(b) In the payment to any person of compensation for any loss or injury caused by the offence, where compensation is, in the opinion of the Court, recoverable by such person in a civil Court;
(c) When any person convicted of any offence for having caused the death of another person or of having abetted the commission of such an offence, in paying compensation to the person who are, under the Fatal Accidents Act, 1855 entitled to recover damages from the person sentenced for the loss resulting to them from such death;
(d) When any person is convicted of any offence which includes theft, criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, OF cheating, or of having dishonestly received or retained or of having voluntarily assisted in disposing of, stolen property knowing or having reason to believe the same to be stolen, in compensating any bona fide purchaser of such property for the loss of the same if such property is restored to the possession of the person entitled thereto.
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(2) If the fine is imposed in a case which is subject to appeal, no such payment shall be made before the period allowed for presenting the appeal has elapsed or, if an appeal be presented, before the decision of the appeal.
(3) When a Court imposes a sentence, of which fine does not form a part, the Court may, when passing judgment, order the accused person to pay, by way of compensation, such amount as may be specified in the order to the person who has suffered any loss or injury by reason of the act for which the accused person has been so sentenced.
(4) An order under this Section may also be made by an Appellate Court or by the High Court or Court of Session when exercising its powers of revision.
(5) At the time of awarding compensation in any subsequent civil suit relating to the same matter, the Court shall take into account any sum paid or recovered as compensation under this Section.
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The object of Section 357 of the Code is to provide compensation payable to the persons who are entitled to recover damages from the person sentenced even though fine does not form part of the sentence.
In awarding compensation it is necessary for the Court to decide whether the case is a fit one in which compensation has to be awarded. If it is found that compensation should be paid, then the capacity of the accused to pay compensation has to be determined. It is the duty of the Court to take into account the nature of the crime, the injury suffered, the justness of the claim for compensation, the capacity of the accused to pay and other relevant circumstance in fixing the amount of fine or compensation.