Convict's Refusal To File Appeal Through Legal Aid Must Be Obtained In Writing: Orissa High Court

In order to ensure that no deserving/indigent convicted-prisoner is deprived of availing free legal aid to file appeal against conviction, the Orissa High Court has given an important directive to the District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) across the State to obtain his/her (convict's) refusal to grant consent to file Jail Criminal Appeal (JCRLA) in writing.A Division Bench of Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo and Justice Sibo Sankar Mishra also ruled that even though convicted-prisoners cannot be compelled to prefer appeal, they must be given adequate guidance so as to make them aware of their statutory as well as constitutional right to challenge conviction by way of appeal and even through free legal aid in appropriate cases. In the words of the Court –“Sometimes, the convicts are unaware of their legal rights or appeal process and sometimes, they expressed unwillingness and are reluctant to file appeals for various reasons. If any convict does not choose to prefer appeal against his conviction in spite of proper guidance and proper advice being aware of his fundamental and statutory rights, the same should be obtained in writing from him by the Secretary of the D.L.S.A. and be forwarded to the Member Secretary of Odisha State Legal Services Authority for future reference and a copy of the same shall also be kept with the jail authorities.”The Court reiterated that right to prefer appeal against conviction is a fundamental right even of the prisoners under Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution. It laid great store by the entitlement of a convict to challenge the legal condemnation imposed on him.“A right of appeal is an invaluable right, particularly for an accused who cannot be condemned eternally by a trial Judge, without having a right to seek a re-look of the trial Court's judgment by a Superior or Appellate Court. The right to prefer an appeal by an accused against the conviction is not merely a statutory right but can also be construed to be a fundamental right under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.”Case BackgroundOne Jatia Hembram was found guilty for commission of offence under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC for which he was sentenced to imprisonment for life on 30.01.2013 by the then Additional Sessions Judge, Mayurbhanj at Baripada. Surprisingly, no criminal appeal was filed against the order of conviction for more than 12 years and a JCRLA was filed on behalf of the accused only in October, 2025. When the matter came up for admission hearing on Monday (November 24), the Court got astonished by noting made by the Stamp Reporter who had highlighted a delay of 4565 days in filing the appeal.In order to ascertain the ground reality which led to such unfortunate violation of a constitutional right, the Court had virtually interacted with the Secretary, DLSA, Baripada as well as the Senior Superintendent of Circle Jail, Baripada. The Court questioned the Secretary as to whether any criminal appeal has been filed by the accused in his private capacity. The Judicial Officer had informed that since it could not be ascertained as to whether any criminal appeal or JCRLA was filed previously, she recommended for filing of a fresh JCRLA before the High Court.The Senior Superintendent of Jail, however, conveyed that the accused had filed a criminal appeal through an Advocate, but the details of such appeal was not known to either the jail authorities or the accused himself.The Bench headed by Justice Sahoo had then directed the Secretary, DLSA to verify from the records as to whether the trial Court record (LCR/TCR) of the case was ever requisitioned by the High Court in connection with any criminal appeal or JCRLA. She was asked to send a report on this aspect to the Registrar (Judicial). The Jail Superintendent was ordered to contact the counsel to whom the appellant had earlier entrusted the case for filing of criminal appeal so as to ascertain the status of such case, if filed. The Court had also sought a report from the District & Sessions Judge, Mayurbhanj asking him to explain the circumstances under which such lapse occurred.Convict to be made aware of status of his appealWhen the matter came up again on Wednesday (November 26), the Secretary, DLSA informed the Court that the LCR is still available at the record room as the same was never called for by the High Court in connection with any appeal. Similarly, the Senior Superintendent of Jail also informed the Bench that the Advocate, to whom the accused had privately entrusted the case, never filed any appeal.The District Judge, Mayurbhanj sent a report apprising the Court of the regular steps taken by him as well as the DLSA to ensure that every eligible prisoner gets due opportunity to challenge his conviction through the help of the legal services committee. He tendered sincere apology for the inordinate yet unintentional delay occurred in the given case.Giving due weightage to the gravity of issue, the Court required virtual presence of...

Convict's Refusal To File Appeal Through Legal Aid Must Be Obtained In Writing: Orissa High Court

Jyoti Prakash Dutta

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