Convicts can choose Senior Advocates as legal aid counsel at Supreme Court: Justice Surya Kant

Convicts who cannot afford lawyers will soon be able to choose a leading Senior Advocate to represent them before the Supreme Court, Justice Surya Kant recently said..The judge said that the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC) has identified over 4,200 convicts who need legal aid either for filing their appeal before the top court or for grant of bail. The SCLSC will circulate the panel of Senior Advocates available to those convicts, he stated. “In the next one month, before I demit the office of the Legal Service Committee, all these persons will be provided free legal aid. And we have decided to circulate a panel of all leading senior advocates of the Supreme Court who are kind enough to render pro bono services, leaving it to the choice of the convict whom he wants to engage. This new experiment we will introduce and implement within one month,” Justice Surya Kant said. .He made the statement while speaking at the 24th Commonwealth Law Conference at Malta. The conference was on the topic ‘Democrats and Despots – Does Consensus Work?’.Justice Surya Kant said that even though despotic systems are viewed as antithesis of the democratic ideal, the two systems can work together by building consensus to solve global problems. “Issues like global health, climate change, counterterrorism, trade agreements and arms control are the areas where both democrats and the despots have a common interest in collaboration. By focusing on these shared challenges, a mutually agreeable framework can be evolved. Furthermore, the global community must play a pivotal role in facilitating this dialogue,” he said. Nations with historical ties to both democratic and despotic systems can be the best bridges in fostering dialogue, he opined."Similarly, global institutions like the Commonwealth platforms can help in creating conducive environments for understanding and compromise,” the judge added. .Justice Surya Kant also highlighted that Indian judiciary has been at the forefront of shaping the moral and ethical fabric of the society and its judgements have been arrived at through collaboration and consensus. “Indian courts do not just interpret the law as a cold command, but as a living document of justice. The Constitution is not a fossilized parchment but a dynamic expression of the people's collective aspirations,” he said.