SC on Legal Aid: Trial Courts bound in Law to see that Accused gets Amicus Curiae or Panel Lawyer from Legal Services. [Read the Judgement]

13 Feb 2020

Categories: Latest News Case Analysis

Last week, the Supreme Court has reiterated that when an accused is unrepresented before a Court, it has to either appoint an Amicus Curiae or to refer the matter to the Legal Services Committee requesting it to appoint an Advocate.

The order of the Court was passed in a case titled as SHAIK MUKTHAR vs. THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH.

CASE BACKGROUND

In this case, the High Court of the State of Telangana had confirmed the conviction of the accused of the offence under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code while during the hearing they were unrepresented before the Court.

The Top Court in clear words disapproved of their approach and accordingly observed:

It is by now well settled by a catena of judgments such as the decision of this Court in Rakesh & Anr V. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2011(12) SCC 512, that it is in the interest of justice to appoint an amicus curiae to assist the court where the accused is unrepresented. The Court may also refer the matter to the Legal Services Committee, which may appoint an advocate to represent the accused. The High Court, unfortunately, has not chosen to either appoint an Amicus curiae or to refer the matter to the Legal Services Committee requesting it to appoint an Advocate.

The Apex Court mentioned that it didn't take into account the fact that the incident occurred in the year 2011 and that the accused have been in custody for about 8 months and still observed that the matter is fit to be remitted to the High Court.

It referred to the evidence on record and confirmed the conviction but reduced their sentence to the period already undergone.

The order has been passed by Justice Mohan M. Shanthanagoudar and Justice R.Subhash Reddy on 04-02-2020.

Read Order Here: