7.91% of undertrials utilised legal aid services in 2016-19, says TISS, NLU Delhi report
The report has been prepared by Prayas, a field action project of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, along with the Fair Trial Fellowship Program of National Law University.
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As many as 86 per cent of the total undertrials in the programme were below the age of 40 years, out of which at least 1/6th were below the age of 20 years. (Representational/File) Only 7.91 per cent of undertrials lodged in prisons across Maharashtra between 2016 and 2019 have utilised legal aid services they were entitled to as per the law, revealed a report on Saturday.
Major hurdles were lack of coordination between multiple agencies including Legal Services Authorities (LSAs), police, courts, and prison authorities, leading undertrials being deprived from availing legal aid, noted the report, adding that the lack of quality legal aid services is presumed to be the main reason for the same.
The report has been prepared by Prayas, a field action project of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, along with the Fair Trial Fellowship Program of National Law University.
The report, named ‘Legal Representation for Undertrials in Maharashtra 2018-2021’, was released by the Supreme Court judge, Justice PL Narasimha, along with Justice Ramesh D Dhanuka of Bombay High Court, also executive chairperson of Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority (MSLSA), on Saturday.
The legal aid services provided through a programme by the Azim Premji Foundation in collaboration with the Maharashtra government were accessed by 9,570 undertrials, out of which, 4,237 undertrials were released by filing of bail or modification application compliance processes. It noted that as on December 31, 2021, total 36, 828 prisoners were lodged in Maharashtra prisons that were overcrowded with an average occupancy rate of 149 per cent of the total capacity.
Nearly 39 per cent of the cases under the said programme were of undertrials charged with theft or burglary offences, and most of them were received at the pre-trial stage, noted the report, adding that the primary need in almost 77.85 per cent of the cases was assistance for filing bail application.
According to the report, 20 per cent of the undertrials approached through the programme were women, and most of them faced difficulties within the system due to gender, lack of education, and poverty among others.
As many as 86 per cent of the total undertrials in the programme were below the age of 40 years, out of which at least 1/6th were below the age of 20 years.
Justice PL Narasimha said that the institutions involved in the legal aid system including prosecution, district courts, DLSAs need to coordinate; and they have to act proactively to provide the required legal aid to the undertrials. The ‘disconnect’ between legal aid lawyers and undertrials should be avoided, Narasimha said. “There is a need in HCs and the SC to have someone to coordinate with… How is it that such a full-time institution (DLSA) is not able to gather such basic information? This is a problem of governance… not a public administration problem, which every institution finds.”
Justice Dhanuka, meanwhile, said that the ‘common goal was to see that everyone gets justice, and undertrials are represented properly as the same is their fundamental right’. “There are problems accessing legal aid. The objective of providing competent legal aid to undefended accused, so that they get a fair trial.” He also referred to the ‘legal aid defence counsel scheme’ initiated by MSLSA for full-time engagement of lawyers dealing exclusively with criminal matters and hoped that the same would provide competitive legal assistance to the disadvantaged.
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