Alka Verma-
Published On: October 12,2021 at 13:16 IST
The Supreme Court of India asked the authorities to send the digital records of Prisoners whose Jail Appeals are pending before the Apex Court.
The Court ordered the High Court Legal Services Committee as well as State Legal Services Authority across the country to prepare a record about such cases which were pending due to incomplete records and send it to the top Court.
A Bench comprising Justices UU Lalit and S Ravindra Bhat asked the bodies to provide all the case records, including deposition of witnesses, in a digital format, which will be helpful in the smooth hearing of Jail Petitions.
The Bench stated that such Petitions are always in incomplete condition when received by the panel of Amicus Curiae or those engaged by the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLC) that’s why it has ordered the authorities to send the whole record of the case in digital form.
The Court made such directions while it was dealing with a Jail Petition filed by a convict lodged in a Rajasthan Jail.
Kailash Thakan, the Petitioner filed a Jail Petition before the Supreme Court in which he challenged the judgement of the Rajasthan High Court that sentenced him to a lifetime Jail term.
The case then was assigned to Advocate Karan Bharihoke, an Amicus Curiae of the Court and he was provided two weeks to prepare the Appeal.
Bharihoke informed the Court that he was unable to prepare the Appeal as the record of the case along with the depositions of the relevant witnesses was yet not provided.
The Bench then listened to the observation that similar problems were arising when dealing with other Jail petitions.
Furthermore, the Court ordered the concerning authorities to prepare digital records.
“We have generally observed similar situations of incomplete record being furnished to the learned counsel from the panel of Amicus Curiae or those engaged by the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, which impels us to issue directions to ensure good and qualitative assistance in legal aid matters,” stated the Bench.
In the end, the Bench ordered that a copy of its order be sent to all State Legal Services Authorities, the High Court Legal Services Committees, as well as the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee and the National Legal Services Authorities.
Click here to read/download order
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