Date:22/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/22/stories/2008102253580400.htm

New Delhi

Bid to help poor convicts file appeals

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Director-General (Prisons) of Tihar Central Jail in the Capital to suggest ways to ensure that poor convicts file their appeals against their conviction within the statutory limitation period.

Justice Kailash Gambhir directed the Director-General to file an affidavit making the suggestion by November 20.

The Court passed the direction on an application seeking condonation of delay in filing an appeal by a poor convict lodged in the Tihar Jail.

A Delhi court had sentenced the convict to life imprisonment in the case. However, he failed to challenge his conviction in the High Court because his family failed to engage a lawyer due to paucity of money.

Earlier, the Director-General submitted that there were legal aid cells in the jail fully equipped to help poor convicts to file appeals on time.

A jail superintendent submitted that another convict had filed an application for a certified copy of the judgment but received no intimation from the trial court.

Mr. Justice Gambhir observed that there appeared to be a total lack of co-ordination on the part of the jail authorities with the Delhi Legal Services Authority.