Supreme Court rejects appeal filed under NALSA scheme without convict’s consent
Court holds such filing amounts to misuse of process of law and dismisses plea for unexplained delay
The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed on behalf of a convict under the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) scheme without her consent, deeming it a misuse of legal process. A Bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Prasanna B Varale observed that the appeal was instituted solely due to NALSA’s direction and lacked the convict’s willingness to file a special leave petition before the Court.
The NALSA campaign aims to provide legal aid to prisoners who may be unaware of their rights or appeal procedures through over 1,100 Legal Services Clinics in jails nationwide. However, the Court took note of an affidavit from the Superintendent of Central Jail Kapurthala stating the petitioner never sought assistance or consented to the appeal, which was filed after a delay of 2,298 days.
The bench found this delay explanation unsatisfactory and held that filing the petition without the convict’s knowledge was improper, leading to dismissal of the appeal on grounds of both delay and procedural misuse.