However heinous the crime, all accused entitled to legal representation: Uttarakhand HC [Read Order]

The Uttarakhand High Court recently had the occasion to emphasise that the right of an accused to legal representation remains regardless of how heinous the alleged crime is. The Bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Alok Kumar Verma emphasised that,.“Howsoever, heinous the crime may be, every accused is entitled for legal representation….…It is the obligation of an Advocate, subject to his being paid the fees he is entitled to, to represent the accused, and in case the accused is not able to afford legal representation then the State is obligated to provide him legal aid.“.Moreover, the Court also expressed its disapproval to the practice of Bar Associations issuing resolutions to prevent lawyers from appearing for accused persons in sensitive cases..“While the choice of whether the or not to appear on behalf of the accused lies with the Advocate who is approached by the accused, the Bar Association cannot, by way of a resolution, prevent an Advocate from appearing on his behalf.”.The order was passed in a writ petition moved by an Advocate, Kuldeep Agarwal, through Advocates Kartikey Hari Gupta and Pallavi Bahuguna..Agarwal had taken up the case of one Vinod Kumar. Kumar was one of three persons arrested this year for the shooting of a Kotdwar-based advocate, Sushil Raghuvanshi in 2017..After bail applications moved on behalf of Kumar were rejected by the lower courts, he approached the High Court for bail through advocate Agarwal..However, in May this year, the Kotdwar Bar Association passed a resolution directing all Association members to refrain from appearing for any of the accused in the case, which included Kumar. The Association also warned that if any member represented the accused, his/her membership in the Association would be terminated..Following this resolution, Agarwal was harassed against appearing for his client, prompting him to approach the High Court for relief. Taking serious note of the issue, Chief Justice Ranganathan is even reported to have remarked in open Court that,.“Even if someone shoots me, you cannot deny to represent the accused in court.”.The Bench has also opined that the State Bar Council ought to take action against the Bar Association if Agarwal’s submissions concerning the passage of its illegal resolution is true. As noted in the Court’s order,.“The alleged resolution, passed by the Kotdwar Bar Association, is prima facie illegal since, by way of the said resolution, the Bar Association has already determined the guilt of the accused in Case Crime No. 281 of 2017, through such a conclusion can only be arrived at by a competent court, that too after completion of a free and fair trial….… We are disturbed by the resolution passed by the Kotdwar Bar Association in directing its members not to provide legal representation to the accused. If the contents of the affidavit are true, the State Bar Council may need to take action against the concerned members of the Advocates Association, who are responsible for such acts.“.The matter has been posted to be taken up next on June 18..[Read Order].[Read Petition].Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.