ISSUE:
Whether the right to free legal aid is an essential ingredient of reasonable, fair, and just procedure under Article 21 of the Constitution?
Whether the State is under a constitutional obligation to provide free legal services to an indigent accused not only at the stage of trial but also at the stage when he is first produced before the magistrate and at remand proceedings?
Whether a magistrate is under an obligation to inform an accused of his right to free legal aid when he is produced before the court?
Whether the failure to produce an arrested person before a magistrate within 24 hours and continued detention without remand orders violate constitutional and legal safeguards?
Whether the State can be held liable to compensate victims of custodial violence for violations of their fundamental rights under Article 21?
RULE:
The right to free legal aid is an essential element of a fair and just procedure and is implicit in the guarantee of Article 21. The State is constitutionally obligated to provide free legal aid to an accused who is unable to secure legal representation due to indigence.
The constitutional obligation to provide free legal aid arises not only at the trial stage but from the very first time the accused is produced before a magistrate and during subsequent remand proceedings. The State cannot plead financial or administrative inability to avoid this duty.
The right to free legal services would be illusory unless the magistrate or Sessions Judge before whom an accused appears informs him of this right. It would be a mockery of legal aid if an indigent accused, unaware of his rights, is expected to demand legal assistance on his own.
The constitutional and legal requirement to produce an arrested person before a magistrate within 24 hours must be strictly observed. Detention without remand orders is illegal and violates the fundamental rights of the accused.
A violation of Article 21 by custodial violence requires an effective remedy, including compensation. The mere ability to injunct the State from depriving life or liberty is insufficient; courts must forge new remedies to protect fundamental rights.