BNSS Section 396: Victim Compensation Even If Offender Untraced

Two months. That is the outer deadline the law now puts on the Legal Services Authority to finish its enquiry and award you compensation once your claim is admitted, and the most powerful part is that this clock can start ticking even when the police never catch, name, or trace the person who harmed you.

Section 396 continues and strengthens the Victim Compensation Scheme that existed under Section 357A of the old Code of Criminal Procedure. The BNSS came into force on 1 July 2024. Its promise is simple but important: justice for a victim is not held hostage to the police catching the accused. If you suffered loss or injury and need rehabilitation, the State has a duty to fund your compensation through a scheme run by the Legal Services Authorities.

1. Confirm your route. If a court has already recommended compensation in your case, the authority acts on that recommendation. If the offender was never traced or no trial happened, you apply directly under Section 396 sub-section 4.
2. Identify the right office. Apply to the District Legal Services Authority for your district, or to the State Legal Services Authority. Both are statutory bodies under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.
3. Prepare the application. State who you are, what happened, the loss or injury suffered, and why you need rehabilitation. Attach your proof documents.
4. Submit the application along with copies of the FIR, any medical records, and proof of identity.
5. Attend the enquiry. The authority makes its own enquiry to fix an adequate amount. Cooperate and supply any extra papers it asks for.
6. Track the two-month clock. The authority is required to complete the enquiry and award compensation within two months of receiving the recommendation or your application.
7. Ask for interim relief if you are in distress. The authority may order immediate first-aid or medical benefits free of cost, or other interim relief, while the enquiry continues.

Section 396 sub-section 1 places a duty on every State Government, in coordination with the Central Government, to prepare a scheme that funds compensation for victims or their dependents who have suffered loss or injury and who require rehabilitation. The scheme is about putting a victim back on their feet, not about punishing the accused.

Key features of the cover:

• Compensation for loss, injury and rehabilitation, decided as an adequate amount by the Legal Services Authority.
• Cover when nobody is caught. Section 396 sub-section 4 specifically allows a claim where the offender is not traced or identified but the victim is identified, and where no trial takes place.
• Immediate medical relief. Under Section 396 sub-section 6, the authority may order immediate first-aid or medical benefits free of cost on the certificate of a police officer not below the rank of the officer in charge of the police station, or of a Magistrate, or it may grant other interim relief.
• It is in addition to a court fine. Compensation under Section 396 is over and above any compensation a court orders out of a fine under Section 395 of the BNSS, which carries forward the old Section 357 power.

Keep these ready before you walk into the District Legal Services Authority:

• A copy of the First Information Report. Under the new criminal laws you are entitled to a free copy of the FIR.
• Medical records, hospital bills, injury reports or a disability certificate, if any.
• Proof of identity and address.
• If you are a dependent claiming for a deceased victim, proof of the death and proof of your relationship.
• Any court order that recommended compensation, if your case reached that stage.
• Bank account details for disbursing the award.

You can use the AI RTI Drafter to file a Right to Information request with the police or the Legal Services Authority asking for the status of your FIR or your compensation file if it stalls. The right to information under the RTI Act 2005 is a practical lever when a public office goes quiet.

• Wrong route chosen. If the offender is untraced you must apply under Section 396 sub-section 4 directly to the authority. Waiting for a trial that will never happen wastes months.
• Incomplete proof of loss or injury. The Legal Services Authority fixes an adequate amount after enquiry. Thin documentation means a thin or delayed award.
• No follow-up on the two-month deadline. Section 396 sub-section 5 gives the authority two months, but you should still write in and track the file so it is not buried.
• Confusing Section 395 with Section 396. A fine-based award by the court under Section 395 does not replace your separate claim under Section 396. You can pursue both.
• Not knowing your information rights. Under Section 193 of the BNSS the police must inform you of the progress of the investigation within ninety days. Use that to know whether the offender is being traced at all.

Yes. Section 396 sub-section 4 of the BNSS allows a victim or the dependents to apply to the State or District Legal Services Authority for compensation where the offender is not traced or identified but the victim is identified and no trial takes place.

Section 396 sub-section 5 requires the authority to complete the enquiry and award adequate compensation within two months of receiving the court recommendation or your application.

The District Legal Services Authority or the State Legal Services Authority decides the quantum after its own enquiry. The trial court recommends, but the authority fixes the adequate amount.

Yes. Compensation under Section 396 is in addition to any compensation awarded by a court out of a fine under Section 395 of the BNSS. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Yes. Under Section 396 sub-section 6 the authority may order immediate first-aid or medical benefits free of cost on the certificate of a police officer not below the rank of the officer in charge of the police station, or of a Magistrate, or grant other interim relief.

Apply to your District Legal Services Authority or the State Legal Services Authority. These bodies are constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

Yes. Section 193 of the BNSS requires the police to inform you of the progress of the investigation within ninety days. You are also entitled to a free copy of the FIR.

The National Legal Services Authority runs a Compensation Scheme for Women Victims and Survivors of Sexual Assault and other crimes, 2018, which is widely used as a model. State schemes prepared under Section 396 set the specific amounts, so check your own State scheme.

• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Section 396 (Victim compensation scheme), Section 395 (order to pay compensation), and Section 193 (report of police officer on completion of investigation, including the duty to inform the victim within ninety days).
• The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 (constitution and functions of the State and District Legal Services Authorities).
• National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), Compensation Scheme for Women Victims and Survivors of Sexual Assault and other Crimes, 2018, used as a model scheme.

• Zero FIR under BNSS 173
• Anticipatory bail under BNSS 482
• AI RTI Drafter
• RTI Act 2005
• The RTI Playbook