IMPORTANT POINT
A criminal case should not be decided against the accused in the absence of a counsel.

ORDER

Leave granted.

Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2. We have also heard Mr. Fali S. Nariman, learned senior counsel, who very kindly consented to assist us as Amicus Curiae in this case in which an important constitutional and legal question is involved.

3. That question is whether in a criminal case if the counsel for the accused does not appear, for whatever reasons, should the case be decided in the absence of the counsel against the accused, or the Court should appoint an amicus curiae to defend the accused ?

4. In the present case, it appears that Criminal Appeal 137 of 2003 was decided by the Gauhati High Court on 01.06.2010 in the absence of the counsel for the appellant- accused and the conviction was upheld.

5. Mr. Nariman, learned senior counsel, pointed out that earlier the counsel for the appellant-accused was Mr. A.S. Choudhury but the appellant changed his counsel and appointed Mr. B. Sinha in the year 2007 as his new counsel, and this fact is corroborated by affidavit. Unfortunately, the name of Mr. Sinha as counsel for the appellant was not shown in the cause list when the case was listed and the name of the former counsel Mr. Choudhury was shown. In these circumstances, Mr. Sinha who was engaged by the appellant as his new counsel did not appear.

6. We are of the opinion that even assuming that the counsel for the accused does not appear because of the counsel’s negligence or deliberately, even then the Court should not decide a criminal case against the accused in the absence of his counsel since an accused in a criminal case should not suffer for the fault of his counsel and in such a situation the Court should appoint another counsel as amicus curiae to defend the accused. This is because liberty of a person is the most important feature of our Constitution. Article 21 which guarantees protection of life and personal liberty is the most important fundamental right of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Article 21 can be said to be the ‘heart and soul’ of the fundamental rights.

7. In our opinion, a criminal case should not be decided against the accused in the absence of a counsel. We are fortified in the view we are taking by a decision of the US Supreme Court in Powell Vs. Alabama,1 287 US 45 (1932), in which it was observed:-

“What, then, does a hearing include? Historically and in practice, in our own country at least, it has always included the right to the aid of counsel when desired and provided by the party asserting the right. The right to be heard would be, in many cases, of little avail if it did not comprehend the right to be heard by counsel. Even the intelligent and educated layman has small and sometimes no skill in the science of law. If charged with crime, he is incapable, generally, of determining for himself whether the indictment is good or bad. He is unfamiliar with the rules of evidence. Left without the aid of counsel he may be put on trial without a proper charge, and convicted upon incompetent evidence, or evidence irrelevant to the issue or otherwise inadmissible. He lacks both the skill and knowledge adequately to prepare his defense, even though he have a perfect one. He requires the guiding hand of counsel at every step in the proceedings against him. Without it, though he be not guilty, he faces the danger of conviction because he does not know how to establish his innocence. If that be true of men of intelligence, how much more true is it of the ignorant and illiterate, or those of feeble intellect. If in any case, civil or criminal, a State or federal court were arbitrarily to refuse to hear a party by counsel, employed by and appearing for him, it reasonably may not be doubted that such a refusal would be a denial of a hearing, and, therefore, of due process in the constitutional sense”.

8. The above decision of the US Supreme Court was cited with approval by this Court in A.S. Mohammed Rafi Vs. State of Tamil Nadu & Ors.,2 AIR 2011 Supreme Court