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TMI Blog1980 (12) TMI 200X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mber, 1980. 2. The State has filed before us a counter affidavit sworn by Tarkeshwar Parshad, Under Secretary, Home (Police) Department of the State Government giving various particulars required by us by our order dated 2nd December, 1980. We have also before us the counter affidavit filed by Jitendra Narain Singh, Assistant Jailer, Bhagalpur Central Jail, on behalf of the State and this affidavit gives certain other particulars required by us. The State has also in addition to these particulars, filed statements giving various particulars in regard to the blinded prisoners drawn from the records of the judicial magistrates dealing with their cases. The District and Sessions Judge has also addressed a letter to the Registrar (Judicial) of this Court stating that for the reasons given in his letter, no inspection of the Bhagalpur Central Jail has been carried out by the District and Sessions Judge in the year 1980. The Registrar (Judicial) has also furnished to us copies of the statements of the blinded prisoners and B.L. Das, former Superintendent of the Bhagalpur Central Jail, recorded by him pursuant to the order of this Court dated 1st December, 1980. Full and detailed argum ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on raised by Mrs. Hingorani on behalf of the blinded prisoners was whether the State was liable to pay compensation to the blinded prisoners for violation of their Fundamental Right under Article 21 of the Constitution. She contended that the blinded prisoners were deprived of their eye sight by the Police Officers who were Government servant acting on behalf of the State and since this constituted a violation of the constitutional right under Article 21, the state was liable to pay compensation to the blinded prisoners. The liability to compensate a person deprived of his life or personal liberty otherwise than in accordance with procedure established by law was, according to Mrs. Hingorani, implicit in Article 21. Mr. K.G. Bhagat on behalf of the State, however, contended that it was not yet established that the blinding of the prisoners was done by the Police and that the investigation was in progress and he further urged that even if blinding was done by the police and there was violation of the constitutional right enshrined in Article 21, the State could not be held liable to pay compensation to the persons wronged. These rival arguments raised a question of great constitutio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... were not represented by any lawyers and save a. few who were released on bail, and that too after being in jail for quite some time, the rest of them continued to languish in jail. It is difficult to understand how this state of affairs could be permitted to continue despite the decision of this Court in Hussainara Khatonn's case 1979 Cri LJ 1045 . This Court has pointed out in Hussainara Khatoon's case (supra) which was decided as far back as 9th March, 1979 that the right to free legal services is clearly an essential ingredient of reasonable, fair and just procedure for a person accused of an offence and it must be held implicit in the guarantee of Article 21 and the State is under a constitutional mandate to provide a lawyer to an accused person if the circumstances of the case and the needs of justice so require, provided of course the accused person does not object to the provision of such lawyer. It is unfortunate that though this Court declared the right to legal aid as a Fundamental Right of an accused person by a process of judicial construction of Article 21, most of the States in the country have not taken note of this decision and provided free legal serv ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o when he is remanded from time to time. 6. But even this right to free legal services would be illusory for an indigent accused unless the magistrate or the Sessions Judge before whom he is produced informs him of such right. It is common knowledge that about 70 per cent of the people in the rural areas are illiterate and even more than that percentage of people are not aware of the rights conferred upon them by law. There is; so much lack of legal awareness that it has always been recognised as one of the principal items of the programme of the legal aid movement in this country to promote legal literacy. It would make a mockery of legal aid if it were to be left to a poor ignorant and illiterate accused to ask for free legal services. Legal aid would become merely a paper promise and it would fail of its purpose. The magistrate or the sessions judge before whom the accused appears must be held to be under an obligation to inform the accused that if he is unable to engage the services of a lawyer on account of poverty or Indigence, he is entitled to obtain free legal services at the cost of the State. Unfortunately, the judicial magistrates failed to discharge this obligati ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he State continued to detain these accused persons in jail without any remand orders. We hope and trust that the State Government will inquire as to why (sic) this irregularity was allowed to be perpetrated and will see to com that in future no such violations of the law are permitted to be committed by the administrators of the law. The provision inhibiting detention without remand is a very healthy provision which enables the Magistrates to keep check over the police investigation and it is necessary that the Magistrates should try to enforce this requirement and where it is found to be disobeyed, come down heavily upon the police. 8. We also cannot help expressing our unhappiness at the lack of concern shown by the judicial magistrates in not enquiring from the blinded prisoners, when they were first produced before the judicial magistrates and thereafter from time to time for the purpose of remand to how they had received injuries in the eyes. It is true that most of the blinded prisoners have said in their statements before the Registrar that they were not actually produced before the judicial magistrates at any time, but we cannot, without further inquiry in that behalf, a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Prisons, Patna on 30th July, 1980 with a request that this matter should be brought to the notice of the State Government. The Inspector General of Prisons forwarded these petitions to the Home Department. The Inspector General of Prisons was also informed by three blinded prisoners on 9th September 1980 when he visited the Banks Jail that they had been blinded by the police and the Inspector General of Prisons observed in his inspection note that it would be necessary to place the matter before the Government so that, the police atrocities may be stopped. The facts disclose a very disturbing state of affairs. In the first place we find it difficult to appreciate why the Chief Judicial Magistrate to whom the petitions of these blinded prisoners had been forwarded by the District Sessions Judge did not act upon the complaint contained in these petitions and either take cognizance of the offence revealed in these petitions or order investigation by the higher police officers. ' The information appearing in these petitions disclosed very serious offences alleged to have been committed by the Police and the Chief Judicial Magistrate should not have nonchalantly ignored these pet ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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