Himachal Pradesh High Court: A Division Bench comprising of Surya Kant, CJ. and Ajay Mohan Goel, J. disposed of a writ petition by directing the concerned authorities to provide legal aid with immediate effect to jail inmates.
The present writ petition was filed in public interest owing to the information gathered under the Right to Information Act with regard to the non-availability of legal aid to inmates of the jail. Also, some were undergoing sentences as they could not get enlarged on bail for want of legal aid.
The Court appreciated the efforts of the petitioner to bring to the Court’s notice the issues faced by jail inmates. Accordingly, the H.P. State Legal Services Authority along with the Secretaries of District Legal Services Authority was directed to visit the jail and provide immediate legal aid to the inmates in need of it within a week’s time.[Anil Bansal v. State of H.P.,2018 SCC OnLine HP 1617, order dated 15-11-2018]
