Mohd. Hussain v State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) (2012) | Right to Legal Aid & Fair Trial

Case 22 of 30 in Law Easy's Supreme Court criminal procedure series. Mohd. Hussain v. State (Government of NCT of Delhi), Supreme Court of India, split opinion of January 2012 resolved by a three-judge bench in August 2012. FACTS After a December 1997 bomb blast in a Delhi bus that killed four people, the appellant, a foreign national, was sentenced to death. In the Sessions Court he had no real help from a lawyer and prosecution witnesses were examined without real cross-examination. In January 2012 two judges agreed the trial was unfair but differed on the remedy. WHAT THE COURT HELD The larger bench held that a trial without the assistance of a lawyer is not a fair trial and the conviction and sentence cannot stand. Considering the gravity of the offence, it ordered a fresh trial from the stage of prosecution evidence with a lawyer for the accused. Article 22(1) and Article 39A support the right to counsel and free legal aid. CURRENT LAW Section 340 B.N.S.S. gives the accused the right to an advocate of choice, and Section 341 requires the court to assign an advocate at State expense where the accused cannot afford one, in trials and appeals generally. WATCH MORE All 30 cases in order (playlist): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYOVyhaD5Gdw Complete lecture with case-wise chapters (1 hr 52 min): https://youtu.be/xrBwaWooHmg Previous case (Case 21): Zahira Habibullah Sheikh v State of Gujarat (2004) - https://youtu.be/JCN8QrwEvNU Next case (Case 23): Hardeep Singh v State of Punjab (2014) - https://youtu.be/rBfzaCt8pds Notes and resources: https://www.thelaweasy.com Useful for LL.B., CLAT PG, UGC NET Law and Judiciary exam preparation. This video is for education only and is not legal advice. #LawEasy #LegalAid #CLATPG