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2026 Supreme(SC) 400

SANJAY KAROL, N. KOTISWAR SINGH
Shankar Mahto – Appellant
Versus
State of Bihar – Respondent


Advocates appeared:
For the Petitioner(s): Ms. Vibha Dutta Makhija, Sr. Adv. (A.C.) Mr. Aftab Ali Khan, AOR Mr. Parveen Gaur, Adv. Mr. Mansur Ali Khan, Adv. Ms. Sheetal Rawat, Adv. Mr. Mohd. Faisal Khan, Adv.
For the Respondent(s): Mr. Mahipal Singh, Adv. Ms. Swati Vishan, Adv. Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Adv. Ms. Asmita Mishra, Adv. Mr. Devendra Kumar Mishra, Adv. Ms. Priyanka, Adv. Mr. Mukul Kumar, AOR Mr. Narendra Kumar, AOR Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Yadav, Adv. Mr. Keshav Singh, Adv. Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR Mrs. Anu K Joy, Adv. Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv. Mr. Santhosh K, Adv. Mrs. Devika A.l., Adv. Mr. Himanshu Shekhar, AOR Ms. Vishakha, AOR Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Shamra, Adv. Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv. Ms. Preetika Dwivedi, AOR Mr. Abhisek Mohanty, Adv. Mr. Ansh Rajauria, Adv. Mr. Ankolekar Gurudatta, AOR Mr. Ashok Mathur, AOR Ms. Shardha Zutshi, Adv. Mr. Ahanthem Henry, Adv. Mr. Ahanthem Rohen Singh, Adv. Mr. Mohan Singh, Adv. Mr. Aniket Rajput, Adv. Ms. Khoisnam Nirmala Devi, Adv. Mr. Yeshu Mehta, Adv. Mr. Tanay Hegde, Adv. Mr. Kumar Mihir, AOR Mr. Pradeep Misra, AOR Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv. Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Ms. Yanmi Phazang, Adv. Mr. Somanadri Goud Katam, AOR Mr. Sirajuddin, Adv. Mr. Amit Anand Tiwari, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR M/S. KSN & Co., AOR Mr. V Balachandran, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Naidu, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Bharadwaj, Adv. Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR Ms. Yashmita Pandey, Adv. Mr. Nikhil Majithia, AOR Mr. Sanchit Garga, AOR Ms. Mithu Jain, Adv. Mr. Kunal Rana, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Jaiswal, Adv. Ms. Diksha Arora, Adv. Mr. Bhanu Singh, Adv. Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR Mr. Vijay Kumar, Adv. Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G. Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv. Mr. Aman Dev Sharma, Adv. Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv. Mr. Keshav Mittal, Adv. Mr. Gaj Singh, Adv. Mr. Surjendu Sankar Das, AOR Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Shwetank Singh, Adv. Ms. Riya Dhingra, Adv. Mr. Utkarsh Anand, Adv. Mr. Ravi Raghunath, AOR Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Mr. T.K. Nayak, Adv. Mr. Sahil Tagotra, AOR Ms. Shreya Kasera, Adv. Mr. Mukesh K. Giri, AOR Mr. Mandaar Mukesh Giri, Adv. Mr. Pranjal Kumar, Adv. Mr. Kunal Chaudhary, Adv. Ms. Enakshi Mukhopadhyay Siddhanta, AOR Mr. Vaibhav Srivastava, A.A.G. Ms. Sugandha Anand, AOR Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR Mr. Prashant Shrikant Kenjale, AOR Mr. Anwesh Madhukar, Adv. Mr. Archit Upadhayay, AOR Mr. Harsh Prabhakar, Adv. Mr. Abhas Mishra, Adv. Ms. Jaspreet Gogia, AOR Mr. G. Prakash, AOR Ms. Mukti Chaudhry, AOR Ms. Disha Singh , AOR Ms. G. Indira, AOR Mr. Kunal Chatterji, AOR Ms. Maitrayee Banerjee, Adv. Mr. Rohit Bansal, Adv. Mr. Varij Nayan Mishra, Adv. Mr. Atul Jha, Adv. Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR Ms. Aparna Bhatt, Sr. Adv. Ms. Charu Ambwani, AOR Ms. Karishma Maria, Adv. Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, AOR Mr. Arjun Garg, AOR Ms. Amruta Arjun Garg, Adv. Ms. Arushi Kulshrestha, Adv. Mr. Saaransh Shukla, Adv. Ms. Muskan Bensla, Adv. Ms. Mrinmoyee Das, Adv. Mr. T. G. Narayanan Nair, AOR Ms. Samyuktha H Nair, Adv. Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Mr. Satyalipsu Ray, Adv. Ms. Priyal Sheth, Adv. Ms. Sneha Kalita, AOR Mr. P. I. Jose, AOR Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR Mr. K.M.Nataraj, A.S.G. Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv. Mr. Tadimalla Bhaskar Gowtham, Adv. Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Adv. Mr. Santosh Ramdurg, Adv. Mr. Yogesh Vats, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR M/S. Parekh & Co., AOR Mr. T.S.Kargawkar,Adv. Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Amit Kumar Chawla, Adv. Mr. Anupam Kumar, Adv. Mr. Raghavendra Pratap Singh, Adv. Ms. Shreya Jha, Adv. Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, AOR Mr. Sanjai Kumar Pathak, AOR Mrs. Shashi Pathak, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Robin Kumar, Adv. Ms. Shweta Jayshankar Dwivedi, Adv. Mr. Ashish Kumar Sinha, Adv. Mrs. Binita Jaiswal, Adv. Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR Mr. Mohit Siwach, Adv. Ms. K. V. Bharathi Upadhyaya, AOR Mr. Mahesh Thakur, AOR Mr. Narveer Yadav, Adv. Mr. Siddhartha Sati, Adv. Mr. Anil Nag, AOR Ms. Asmita Singh, AOR Ms. Ankita Makan, Adv. Mr. Karthik S.D., AOR Mr. Kunal Mimani, Adv. Mr. Prashant Alai, Adv. Mr. Abhinav Rana, Adv.
Cases Referred :
Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration, (1978) 4 SCC 494 [Para 7]
Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar, (1980) 1 SCC 81 [Para 7]
Madhav Hayawadanrao Hoskot v. State of Maharashtra, (1978) 3 SCC 544 [Para 7]
Khatri (II) v. State of Bihar, (1981) 1 SCC 627 [Para 7]
Suhas Chakma v. Union of India, 2024 INSC 813 [Para 7]

Table of Content
1. background of appeal and previous procedures. (Para 1 , 2)
2. concerns over delays and lack of compliance. (Para 3)
3. importance of legal aid and systematic issues. (Para 4 , 6 , 7 , 8)
4. judicial obligations and procedural standards for legal aid. (Para 5 , 9 , 11 , 12 , 13)
5. concluding directions and recommendations for effective implementation. (Para 10 , 14 , 15 , 16)

ORDER

SANJAY KAROL, J.

THE APPEAL AND ITS PREVIOUS ORDERS

Delay condoned.

Leave granted.

1. While dealing with an appeal by the appellant, challenging the judgment of conviction and sentence to death awarded to him and confirmed in terms of Criminal Appeal No. 425 of 2002 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Patna, as per judgment dated 20th February, 2014, this Court in terms of the order dated 05th May, 2017, this Court noticed that inordinate delay was affecting matters in which legal aid was involved. With an intent to find out the cause for the same and issue directions as may be necessary, Ms. Vibha Datta Makhija, learned senior counsel, was appointed as amicus curiae to assist the Court. Since then, the matter has been listed on numerous occasions. By order dated 16th October, 2019 it was

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