In Khatri & Others v. St. of Bihar & others AIR 1981 SC Bhagwati J. observed: “The right to free legal aid, fair, equitable and reasonable trials is a fundamental right (Khatoon`s case). It is fundamental that the threat to his personal freedom manifests itself as soon as the person is arrested and brought before a magistrate, because at this stage, he has the 1st opportunity to apply for bail and obtain his release, as well as to oppose the continuation in police custody or prison. It is at this stage that an accused needs competent legal advice and representation. No trial that denies legal advice and representation to the accused at this stage can be characterized as fair, equitable and reasonable. Thus, the State is constitutionally obliged to grant the defendant free legal aid not only during the year. Every individual in society has a privilege. This part of the narrative would be incomplete without reference to the other astute architect of human rights justice, Justice Krishna Iyer. In M.H. Hoskot v. State of Maharashtra AIR 1978 SC 1548, it stated: “If a prisoner sentenced to imprisonment is practically incapable of exercising his constitutional and statutory right to appeal, including special leave to appeal (to the Supreme Court) for lack of legal assistance, it is implicit in Article 142 taken in conjunction with Articles 21 and 39-A of the Constitution, Power to appoint counsel to such a detained person “for the purpose of rendering full justice”.
In the city council, Ratlam vs. Vardichand and others. AIR 1980 SC 1622], the board stated: It is the rules of procedure, as evidenced by this appeal, that “give life to substantive rights that activate them to make them effective”. The truth is that we are facing profound issues of procedural jurisprudence of great strategic importance to our legal system, and we must focus on them, as they involve problems of access to justice for people beyond the narrow-minded rules of the Standing of British Indian Vintage. If the centre of gravity of the judiciary is to shift, as required by a preamble to the Constitution, from the traditional individualism of standing to the common direction of disputes in the public interest, these issues must be taken into account. In this sense, the case before us between the municipality of Ratlam and the citizens of the district is a pioneer in the field of people`s participation in the rational process, without which, as Professor Sikes points out, the system can collapse under the weight of its own insensitivity. The link between article 21 and the right to free legal aid was highlighted in Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar [AIR 1979 SC 1360], in which the court was appalled by the fate of thousands of court cases that have been dragging on Bihar prisons for years without ever being represented or tried by a lawyer.
The Court stated that “there is no doubt that a speedy trial, and by expeditious procedure we mean a reasonably expeditious procedure, is an integral and essential part of the fundamental right to life and liberty enshrined in Article 21”. The Court emphasized that Article 39-A emphasizes that free legal aid is an inalienable element of a “reasonable, fair and just” trial and that the right to free legal services is implicit in the guarantee of Article 21. In his inimitable style, Justice Bhagwati said: In this country, we, the people, have a constitution that guarantees justice, both economic and political. The awakening of the collective consciousness is the need of the day. A change of attitude and a change of attitude are needed. The right to justice is a fundamental right of every Indian citizen, as guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. It is high time to give due priority to constitutional rights. Section 39A of the Constitution of India provides that the State shall ensure that the functioning of the legal system promotes justice on the basis of equality of opportunity and, in particular, shall provide free legal aid through appropriate laws or systems or otherwise to ensure that opportunities for justice are denied to any citizen on account of economic or other disability. Articles 14 and 22, paragraph 1, also oblige the State to ensure equality before the law and a legal system that promotes justice based on equal opportunity for all. Legal aid ensures that the letter and spirit of the constitutional promise are respected and that equal justice is granted to the poor, oppressed and weakest sections of society. The constitutional obligation to grant legal aid arises from the moment the accused is tried for the first time and continues when he is brought before him to be remanded in custody. Legal aid is nothing more than equal justice in action.
Legal aid is the social justice system. If such a defendant does not receive free legal advice, the proceedings themselves may be tainted by a violation of article 21, and any State Government would therefore try to avoid such an eventuality. He repeated this in Sukh Das v. Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh [AIR 1986 SC 991] and stated: “It can therefore now be regarded as a permanent right that free legal aid at the expense of the State is a fundamental right of a person charged with an offence which may constitute a danger to his life or personal liberty, and this fundamental right is implicitly stated in the requirement of reasonableness, fair and equitable procedures in accordance with Article 21. The Honourable Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana is the chief patron of the authority and one of the senior judges held the position of executive chairman of the authority.
