Destitute Accused In Jail For Over 3 Yrs: Allahabad HC Directs UPSLSA To Ensure Compliance Of Its Order On Access To Legal Aid

The Allahabad High Court last week directed the Secretary, Uttar Pradesh State Legal Services Authority to ensure compliance of its 2022 order in the case of 'Anil Gaur @ Sonu @ Sonu Tomar v. State of U.P. 2022 LiveLaw (AB) 435' wherein it issued several positive directions for the State regarding providing access to legal aid to undertrials.The bench of Justice Ajay Bhanot was prompted to pass this order while hearing the bail plea of a kidnapping accused who remained in jail as he did not have access to legal aid as he belong to the economically poor strata of society.The Court also factored in the arguments made by the Counsel for the accused that the applicant and the victim were intimate and the FIR was a result of the opposition of the victim's family members to the said relationship.It was also submitted that no allegation of abduction or inappropriate behavior had been leveled by the victim in her statement under Section 164 Cr.P.C. Lastly, it was submitted that since the accused belongs to poor economic strata of the society, therefore, he was a convenient scapegoat for the police authorities and he had been falsely nominated in the said cases only to burnish the credentials of the police authorities.Taking into account the prosecution's case, the Court noted that though there was no incriminating evidence against him, since the victim had not made any allegation of abduction or inappropriate behavior against him, he had to remain in jail for more than three years due to his destitute circumstances and lack of access to legal aid.In view of this, the Court also directed the Secretary, Uttar Pradesh State Legal Services Authority to enquire into the matter and see if there was any non-compliance of orders passed by the High Court in the Anil Gaur case (supra) in the failure to provide legal aid.Essentially, in the Anil Gaur case (supra), emphasizing that the rights to file a bail without delay and access to legal aid of an eligible prisoner are intertwined, the Allahabad High Court had suggested some significant positive measures so as to overcome the delay in filing of bail pleas by undertrial prisoners in absence of proper legal aid."The right of moving a bail application becomes illusory and personal liberty remains a distant dream if the right to legal aid of an entitled prisoner is not effectuated," the Bench of Justice Ajay Bhanot observed as it directed the State Legal Services Authority to devise a scheme for such undertrial prisoners who are unable to filed bail pleas due to lack of proper access to legal aid.The Court suggested the measures as it took note of the issue being faced by the under-trial prisoners regarding their inability to access legal aid raising legal and constitutional issues, which directly affect the right of bail and the personal liberty of the applicant.Read more about the Court's directions here: Right To File Bail Plea Sans Delay & Access To Legal Aid 'Intertwined': Allahabad HC Suggests Positive Measures For Undertrial PrisonersAppearancesCounsel for Applicant: Saksham Srivastava, Veerendra Singh Counsel for Opposite Party: G.ACase title - Manjeet Alias Pintoo vs. State of U.P. [CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 59616 of 2022]Case Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (AB) 26Click Here To Read/Download Order

Destitute Accused In Jail For Over 3 Yrs: Allahabad HC Directs UPSLSA To Ensure Compliance Of Its Order On Access To Legal Aid

Sparsh Upadhyay

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