"No procedure which denies legal assistance to an economically or otherwise disabled prisoner or which keeps a prisoner unaware of his rights can be considered just, reasonable and fair," a Division Bench comprising Justice Amar Saran and Justice Sunita Agarwal remarked in its September 25 order.
"The right to free legal service should be made available to all prisoners at all stages, including the pre-trial stage, for contesting the trial thereafter and also for moving applications for bail," the court said.
The IG (Prisons) has been directed to "send details in tabular form" of prisoners who are more than 70 years of age, those who have spent more than 12 years in jail, women prisoners who have been in jail for seven years or more for offences under Section 304 B IPC (dowry death) and 10 years or more for other types of crime.
The court also directed district judges to "cross check the information relating to prisoners" lodged in jails of districts under their jurisdiction with the concerned authorities.
The District Judges have also been asked to ensure that lawyers on the panel for providing legal aid to prisoners visit district or central jails in their districts at least twice every month and to ensure that an adequate number of women lawyers are appointed which would facilitate legal assistance to female inmates.