Madhya Pradesh High Court: In an appeal challenging the appellant’s conviction with an application seeking condonation of delay of 850 days in filing the appeal, a Division bench of Vivek Agarwal and Devnarayan Mishra, JJ., condoned the delay and admitted the appeal for final hearing.
The Court noted that no one appeared for the appellant at the time of hearing, thereby reflecting a serious lapse in the legal aid mechanism. Though the Public Prosecutor objected to the condonation of delay for such a long period of time, the Court, however, took a compassionate and systemic view and noted that “looking to the fact that the appellant is a poor person having no source of earning and there is no one in the immediate family to take care which causes delay in filing this appeal, the aforesaid IA is allowed and the delay is condoned.”
The Court emphasised that the present case “is a reflection on the working of Legal Aid in the State” and admitted the appeal for final hearing. The Court directed the Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Rewa, to report why legal aid was not provided to the convict immediately upon his conviction. The Court also asked the Superintendent of Central Jail, Rewa to explain why legal aid was not made available to the appellant to facilitate timely filing of the appeal.
The Court directed the Secretary, State Legal Services Authority to call for reports from all Superintendents of jails in Madhya Pradesh in regard to legal aid provided to the under trial/convicts in the matter of filing bail applications/appeals/revisions. The Court further directed that “let needful be done within two weeks.”
The Court granted the Public Prosecutor two weeks’ time to file objections and listed the matter for further hearing on 15-05-2025.
[Mohd. Aslam v. State of M.P., 2025 SCC OnLine MP 3441, Decided on 28-04-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Shri Ajay Shukla, Public Prosecutor, Counsel for the Respondent/State