India News | SC Acquits Man Without Lawyer During Rape Trial, Says Duty of Court to Ensure Free Legal Aid

New Delhi, Dec 2 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday underlined it was the duty of the court to ensure free legal aid to a person not represented by an advocate and acquitted a rape accused after over 15 years.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih further said the right of the accused to defend themselves in a criminal trial was guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution and advocates appointed to espouse the cause of the accused must have a good knowledge of criminal laws.

Also Read | Uber Shikara in Srinagar: Uber Rolls Out Asia's First Water Transport Service in India With Shikara Bookings on Its App (See Pics and Videos).

The bench therefore acquitted a man in a rape case after fifteen-and-a-half years noting that he was not represented by a lawyer during the trial.

"It is the duty of the court to ensure that proper legal aid is provided to an accused. When an accused is not represented by an advocate, it is the duty of every public prosecutor to point out to the court the requirement of providing him free legal aid," it said.

Also Read | UP Shocker: Man Arrested for Sexually Harassing 7-Year-Old Girl in Muzaffarnagar.

If legal aid is provided only for the sake of providing it, it will serve no purpose as legal aid must be effective, the SC said.

"An accused who is not represented by an advocate is entitled to free legal aid at all material stages starting from remand. Every accused has the right to get legal aid, even to file bail petitions," it said.

The apex court further said it was the duty of the public prosecutor to ensure that the trial was conducted fairly and lawfully.

"Even if the court is inclined to frame charges or record examination-in-chief of the prosecution witnesses in a case where the accused has not engaged any advocate, it is incumbent upon the public prosecutor to request the court not to proceed without offering legal aid to the accused," it observed.

The bench went ahead to outline the duty of the public prosecutor in assisting the trial court in recording of the accused's statement under the CrPC.

"If the court omits to put any material circumstance brought on record against the accused, the public prosecutor must bring it to the notice of the court while the examination of the accused is being recorded," it said.

The public prosecutor while ensuring those guilty of the offence were punished, also had the duty to ascertain there were no infirmities in the conduct of the trial, causing prejudice to the accused, it said.

"At all material stages, including the stage of framing the charge, recording the evidence, etc., it is the duty of the court to make the accused aware of his right to get free legal aid," said the court.

The apex court noted in cases attracting a life or death sentence, only advocates who had a minimum of 10 years of practice on the criminal side should be considered to be appointed as amicus curiae or as a legal aid advocate.

The top court said even cases that were not covered by such categories, the accused was entitled to a legal aid advocate with "good knowledge of the law" besides the experience of conducting trials on the criminal side.

"It would be ideal if the legal services authorities at all levels give proper training to the newly-appointed legal aid advocates not only by conducting lectures but also by allowing the newly appointed legal aid advocates to work with senior members of the Bar in a requisite number of trials," it said.

The state legal services authorities were accordingly directed to issue directions to the legal services authorities at all levels to monitor the work of the legal aid advocates and ensure their regular and punctual attendance in the courts when the cases entrusted to them were fixed.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)