Free Legal Aid In Prison No Ground To Deny Parole To Convict Seeking Lawyer Of Choice To File SLP: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that the availability of free legal aid in prison cannot be a ground to deny parole to a convict seeking to challenge his conviction before the Supreme Court through a counsel of his choice.

Justice Mini Pushkarna observed that a prisoner's right to pursue a legal remedy before the Supreme Court by filing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) is a valuable right that cannot be denied merely because legal aid is available or the petition can be filed from jail.

The Court noted that as per Rule 1208 (viii) of the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, a prisoner is entitled to parole for the purpose of filing of an SLP before the Supreme Court against a judgment delivered by the High Court convicting or upholding the conviction, as the case may be.

“Merely because legal aid counsel is available, the same is no ground to deny the valuable right to the petitioner with regard to engaging some counsel for the purpose of filing SLP challenging the judgment of this Court upholding his conviction and sentence,” the Court said.

It made the observations while granting 30 days' parole to one Mahender Rathore, serving a seven-year rigorous imprisonment sentence for rape and a three-year rigorous imprisonment sentence for criminal intimidation, with both sentences directed to run concurrently.

Rathore had approached the Court seeking parole to arrange financial resources, consult advocates and take steps to file an SLP challenging the High Court's August 05 judgment dismissing his appeal against conviction.

The Delhi Government had rejected his parole application on the ground that, being from an economically disadvantaged section of society, he could avail free legal aid and assistance available to prisoners in jail.

Granting relief to him, the Court relied on its earlier decision in Bijender v. State of NCT of Delhi, which emphasised that a convict's right to challenge the conviction before the Supreme Court cannot be denied merely because free legal aid is available or the SLP can be filed from prison.

Referring to the earlier decisions, the Court reiterated that a convict must be afforded an opportunity to pursue the legal remedy before the Supreme Court through counsel of his choice.

Accordingly, the Court allowed Rathore's plea and granted him 30 days' parole from the date of his release to file the SLP, subject to conditions.