Accused's right of being represented through a lawyer is referable to fundamental right to life

Background

• The appellant was convicted by a trial court and awarded life imprisonment in a 1987 murder case.

• He filed an appeal before the Allahabad High Court in 2017 against the aforesaid conviction.

• The Allahabad High Court affirmed the trial court’s view and dismissed the appeal even though he was not represented in the hearing through his lawyer.

• He then filed an appeal before the apex court challenging the Allahabad High Court’s decision.

• The counsel for the accused contended before the Supreme Court that the appeal was dismissed by the High Court without any representation on the appellant’s behalf.

Supreme Court's Observation

• The court observed that the "right of being represented though a counsel is part of due process clause and is referable to the right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India."

• A 3-judge bench comprising of Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, Vineet Saran and S. Ravindra Bhat further observed that if due to any reason the Advocate representing the accused was not available at the time of hearing then “it was open to the court to appoint an Amicus Curiae to assist the court but the cause in any case ought not to be allowed to go unrepresented."

• The Supreme Court set-side the judgement delivered by the Allahabad High Court and restored the criminal appeal for fresh consideration and directed the registry of the High Court to list the appeal for hearing before 11th January, 2021.

Similar Observation by the Supreme Court

• In July 2019, the Supreme Court had made the following observations in the case of Shankar vs. State of Maharashtra:

"When the accused has preferred the appeal against the conviction, the appeal can be disposed of on merits only after hearing the appellant or his counsel. When there was no representation for the appellant, in our considered view, the High Court ought not to have disposed of the case on merits."

"Once the appeal against the conviction is admitted, it is the duty of the Appellate Court either to appoint an advocate as amicus curiae or to nominate a counsel through Legal Services Authority and hear the matter on merits and then dispose of the appeal."

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