'The Legal System Works Differently For The Poor': Orissa High Court Chief Justice Muralidhar

"The system works differently for the poor," said Orissa High Court Chief Justice Muralidhar while pondering over the hurdles faced by the marginalised section of the Indian population who have been subjected to historic injustice over decades while attempting to access legal aid services. Justice Muralidhar was speaking at a lecture organized by the Community for the Eradication of Discrimination in Education and Employment (CEDE) to mark the 131st birthday of Dr. BR Ambedkar on the topic 'Appearing In Court: Challenges In Representing The Marginalized'.While speaking in detail about his experiences as a practising lawyer and as a member of the Bench, the Chief Justice made several noteworthy remarks and observations that convey how much the legal system is yet to develop to accommodate the needs of those who are desperately in need of its services. Before parting, Justice Muralidhar said, "There is much to be done. And it needs to be done now. We have the resources. We must find the will."Here are the four angles the lecture elaborated on: 1) Who is a person in need of legal services and in that context, who is a 'marginalised' person?Justice Muralidhar opined that at a very basic level, every person denied justice in the broadest sense of the term, and who has to perforce engage with the legal system for redressal, is in need of legal services. He added the Constitution acknowledges persons who have been denied justice over generations, including those belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Dalits, Adivasis, socially, educationally and economically disadvantaged classes, religious and sexual minorities, differently-abled, children in conflict with the law, de-notified tribes, etc.During the course of the lecture, Justice Muralidhar also emphasised the marginalization of 'status offenders' like sex workers, vagrants, mentally ill, and many others whose very existence and every activity is criminalised. He added that it was a matter of concern that at least 20 states in India still have anti-beggary criminal laws while adding that these laws had been struck down only in Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir by judicial verdicts. At one glance, it could be gathered that those coming in conflict with the law in these situations were invariably those below the poverty line and a 'high-risk group' who are to be acknowledged as unwitting consumers of legal services. However, he clarified that poverty need not be understood only in economic terms, thereby stating that the definition of 'marginalised' may not be as easy as one believes it to be."For instance, a married woman belonging to the higher or middle-income group who is a victim of domestic violence and finding herself incarcerated in her marital home in an upper-class neighbourhood may still be deprived of legal services. The definition of 'marginalized' it would seem is thus not as simple as one might want to believe it to be. It is thus entirely possible that a person in India on account of her social or economic disadvantage is denied legal services. We may be creating a set of 'social' and 'economic' outcasts' through law."Justice Muralidhar also dealt with the issue of certain kinds of offenders being statutorily disqualified from receiving legal aid and bar associations resolving that no member lawyer will defend a certain kind of 'accused': a person accused of committing what is termed a terrorist act, despite having been outlawed by the Supreme Court. Therefore, he opined that the Indian criminal justice system provides, for those willing to see, a stark depiction of the intersection of law and poverty."We are yet to dismantle the structures that marginalise a sizeable section of our population. Thus, we still have many among us those engaged in manual scavenging, sewer cleaning, rag picking and in forced labour or begar, doing all our 'dirty work' at the cost of their dignity and right to life," he said. 2) Barriers that a marginalised person encounters in the legal system and how the system has responded to the problem.The marginalised enter the legal system in a variety of ways, very often involuntarily but mostly as persons suspected of committing crimes. Yet their access to legal aid services is the least when compares to others, Justice Muralidhar noted. "21% of the undertrial population of 3.72 lakhs and 21% of the convict population of 1.13 lakhs belong to the Scheduled Castes. 37.1% of the convicts and 34.3% of the undertrials belong to the OBCs. The corresponding percentages for Muslims is 17.4% and 19.5% respectively. And yet, these are the persons who are likely to find it difficult to come forward to fight for their rights."It was also pointed out how for many a 'marginalised' person, navigating the formal legal system is a nightmare since the laws, rules and processes are mystifying and befuddling even for an educated, literate person. Therefore, he opined that the laws themselves were structured to...

'The Legal System Works Differently For The Poor': Orissa High Court Chief Justice Muralidhar

Hannah M Varghese

"There are many barriers to accessing justice that a marginalised person faces. The laws, rules and processes are mystifying and befuddling even for an educated, literate person. The laws are themselves structured to discriminate against the poor."

Tags