Hussainara Khatoon & Ors. v Home Secretary, State of Bihar

 

Hussainara Khatoon & Ors. v Home Secretary, State of Bihar (1979)

 

Introduction:  Hussainara Khatoon & Ors. Vs. Home Secretary, State of Bihar is a landmark case, decided on 9th March 1979, which provided a wider interpretation for Article 21 and held that speedy trial is the fundamental right of every citizen. It is the most famous case which discusses the human rights of prisoners in India. The honorable Supreme Court pointed out that the State must ensure free legal aid and a speedy trial for the administration of justice.

Advocate Pushpa Kapila Hingorani was one amongst the readers of the article and filed a case as Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court of India. This was the first reported case of PIL in India and Advocate Pushpa Kapila Hingorani is regarded as the ‘Mother of Public Interest Litigation in India.

A writ petition of habeas corpus was filed under Article 32 before the Court for the release of 17 under-trial prisoners whose names were mentioned in the newspaper article in the state of Bihar. The state of Bihar was directed to file a revised chart showing the year-wise break-up of the under-trial prisoners after dividing them into two broad categories viz. charged with minor offences and the other with major offences.

Citation: 1979 AIR 1369.

Court: Supreme Court of India.

Bench: Bhagwati, P.N., Pathak, R.S. Koshal, A.D

Issue:

1.     If the right to speedy trial be considered a part of Article 21?

2.     Can the provision of free legal aid be enforced by the law?

 

 

 

Judgment:

The Court directed that these under-trial detainees whose names and were given in the list recorded by Mrs Hingorani have to to be released as further detainment of those human beings was considered illegal and disregarding their fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution since they have been in jail for a period surpassing the maximum term that they ought to have been indicted for.

The court observed, “What faith can these lost souls have in the judicial system which denies them a bare trial for so many years and keeps them behind bars, not because they are guilty, but because they are too poor to afford bail and the courts have no time to try them”.

The Court likewise coordinated that on the following remand dates, when the under trial detainees, accused of bailable offences, are delivered before the Magistrates, the State Government must designate a lawyer at its own expense for making a bail application, restricting remand and with a point that fast trial can start.

The State Government and High Court were required to produce particulars of the location of the courts of magistrates and courts of sessions in the State of Bihar along with the total cases pending in each court as of 31st December 1978.

They were additionally needed to disclose why the disposal of those cases that have been pending for more than six months not possible.

Conclusion:

The importance of this case can be seen in the fact that almost 40,000 under trial prisoners were released after this judgment. The case motivated a mixture of socially committed citizens and lawyers to raise their voice for the underprivileged and utilize the wide scope of Public Interest Litigation to get justice.