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Bhola Mahto v. The State of Jharkhand

Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 257Decided 16 Mar 2026
Crl.A. No.-001450-001450 - 2026 (arising out of SLP (Crl.) No. 19427 of 2025)
Justice Dipankar Datta · Justice Satish Chandra Sharma

Background

The appellant was convicted of murder in 2002 and sentenced to life imprisonment, but was released on bail while his appeal remained pending before the Jharkhand High Court for over two decades without being listed for hearing. When the appeal finally came up in November 2024, the appellant's own counsel did not appear, so the High Court appointed a senior amicus curiae (a court-appointed lawyer to assist in the absence of the accused's counsel) without directly notifying the appellant. The amicus argued only one point, that the offence fell under a lesser exception to murder, and succeeded in getting the conviction reduced from murder to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, with a 5-year sentence, but the appellant was then required to surrender to serve the balance of that term. The appellant then approached the Supreme Court, arguing he was never told his counsel had failed to appear or that an amicus had been appointed on his behalf, and that stronger grounds from his original memorandum of appeal were never argued.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that while the High Court was not strictly obligated to notify the appellant that an amicus had been appointed, doing so would have been a "desirable precaution," especially given that legal aid assistance must be "real and meaningful" and not a token formality. Because the appellant was deprived of a fair opportunity to have his own chosen grounds argued, the Court set aside the High Court's 2024 order and remanded the appeal for a fresh, de novo hearing before the same (or a similarly constituted) Division Bench, restoring the appellant to bail in the meantime. The Court also used the occasion to lay down a general going-forward direction: whenever an appellate court appoints an amicus curiae because a convict's counsel is absent, the court should also send notice to the convict's address (via the local police station if necessary) so the convict can instruct the amicus or arrange his own counsel, striking a balance between expeditious justice and genuine fairness to the accused.

Lesson Learnt

Even when a court appoints a lawyer (amicus curiae) to represent an unrepresented accused or convict, real fairness requires that the person actually be informed of what is happening in their own case; going forward, appellate courts should send direct notice to a convict's known address before deciding an appeal solely on the strength of a court-appointed lawyer's arguments.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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