Legal aid services are critical to those
who can't afford representation, particularly vulnerable women and children, ensuring that
the innocent get their day in court. But awareness is low and services underutilised.&nbsp; Jaipur: In
September 2021, Mohamad Enus was set free by the Special Court for Schedule
Caste and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Cases of Bharatpur in
Rajasthan. He had been languishing in prison for four years after being charged
with the alleged murder of a nine-year-old boy found dead in the toast factory where
Enus used to work as a daily labourer. <o:p></o:p>Facts of the case<o:p></o:p>Mohamad Enus'
ordeal started on November 26, 2017, when the Roopbas police arrested him on
suspicion of the murder of nine-year-old Arjun Jatav.According to the FIR given by the boy's father, Omprakash Jatav, Arjun had gone to deliver milk to the labourers working in the toast factory on November 25 and never returned home. His body was found behind the factory the next day. The police said that the body was found with a rope around the neck, and they suspected occult practices to be the motive behind his death.Initial investigation
reports said sniffer dogs picked up some scent but stopped at a nearby
abandoned mine. The police then detained Enus as he lived in a rented shanty
nearby and worked in the same factory.&nbsp;
Police later claimed that he confessed to the murder in custody. He was
booked under sections 302, 201 and 379 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and
sections of the SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He was also accused of
stealing a golden locket that Arjun was wearing. He remained in judicial
custody for four years. <o:p></o:p>Role of legal assistance
<o:p></o:p>Being illiterate
and poor, Enus could not hire a lawyer before the trial court and was unaware
of his right to legal aid from the government. After looking at the charge
sheet filed by the police, the trial court took the initiative and provided him
with a lawyer through the District Legal Service Authority (DSLA) of Bharatpur.
<o:p></o:p>The court observed
no conclusive evidence against Mohamad Enus during the trial, and the case
against him was based mainly on circumstantial evidence. The FIR given by
Omprakash Jatav did not mention Enus as a murder suspect. Court also noted the
post mortem report, which said that the boy's injuries were possible only if he
had fallen from a height and not because of asphyxiation as previously believed
by the police. <o:p></o:p>Judge Girija
Bhardhwaj pronouncing the judgement on September 12, 2021, discharged Mohamad
Enus of murder charges and instructed the authorities to set him free, giving him
the benefit of the doubt. Advocate Jamuna Prasad Sharma said that it was a
historical decision where a poor man had been given justice against all odds. <o:p></o:p>"Mohamad Enus
now lives in Saipau in Dholpur, where his father worked as a labourer. He did
not leave any contact number and never called back. No one remembers him now in
Roopbas, but his poverty and struggle with the law were enormous. I tried my
best to argue his case, and the court accepted our argument that there were
many loopholes in the theory put forward by police. Chargesheet had many substantial
gaps that the court accepted, and Mohamad Enus was discharged from the case
giving the benefit of the doubt," Sharma told 101Reporters. <o:p></o:p>Judge Bhardwaj also
indicted the case's investigation officer for lax investigation and recommended
to the district magistrate and Inspector General of Police (Prasanna Kumar
Khamesra) of Bharatpur to take action against the erring officials. The court's
instructions remain in the official files and are yet to be acted upon, while the
IG remained unavailable for comment. <o:p></o:p>Challenges in
accessing legal services<o:p></o:p>Awareness is the
most critical challenge that authorities come across when providing legal help
to the needy. Poor and uneducated people are unaware of such services, and even
victims such as women and children remain bereft of any legal help.<o:p></o:p>"RSLSA and district legal aid services
are doing great work in Rajasthan. Still, awareness is limited about the right
of people to get help if they are not able to afford it. In cases of destitute
women, minor children and undertrials, free legal support has provided some relief
which seemed an insurmountable task given their situation," said Satyendra
Singh Raghav, Additional Advocate General (AAG) in Rajasthan.<o:p></o:p>Despite this, the number of people under custody seeking
legal assistance in Rajasthan has shown an increasing trend in the last four
years. In 2018, 2,847 undertrials sought legal aid, which increased to 2,927 in
2019 and 3,841 in 2020. From January to June 2021, 4,696 people have already
sought help from the RSLSA."We provide
legal services to everyone who comes to us and entitled under the Legal Service
Authority Act, 1987. We have dedicated the action plan of 2021 for the respect of women,
their security and pride," said Poonam Dargan, Director of RSLSA. <o:p></o:p>Other case studies
and data <o:p></o:p>The RSLSA deals with many cases daily that require immediate intervention. Recently, there was a case of domestic abuse from the Kho Nagoriyan area in Jaipur where two women married to two brothers approached the local police station with a video in which their husbands brutally beat them. Their sister-in-law recorded the incident on August 8, 2021.The women said that the police refused to register their complaints and turned them away. They then approached RSLSA and, on August 26, the DLSA of Jaipur. The women police station of Jaipur – North registered an FIR against the husbands of both women under sections of dowry harassment the next day.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It
is not just women, children, or other victims from impoverished backgrounds who
seek legal aid authorities. A 41-year-old woman from Jaipur and currently
living in Victoria, Australia, approached the RSLSA in March 2021 through email
for legal help. <o:p></o:p>In her email to RSLSA,
the woman said that she had procured a Family Domestic Violence Intervention
Order (FIVO) from Moorabin Justice Center in Melbourne to protect herself. She
pleaded that she lives with her two sons aged 13 and 19 and that her life is in
danger.<o:p></o:p>The member
secretary of RSLSA referred the matter to the Additional Director General of
Police (ADGP), Civil Rights of Rajasthan, who prepared a thorough report on the
woman's complaint. The ADGP concluded that as the complainant had not provided
any name or contact number, the police could not pursue a detailed inquiry and hence
no action could be taken. <o:p></o:p>However, on July 1,
2021, the woman sent another email and complained about dowry harassment and
physical torture by her husband and this time, she also provided her details
and contact information in both India and Australia. RSLSA immediately
appointed an advocate, Om Prakash Vashishtha, to provide immediate legal recourse
to the woman.<o:p></o:p>



















































"The woman is
being provided with all legal help possible in Jaipur. We are committed to legally
supporting all who come to the organisation and request our services," said
Ravikant Soni, Deputy Member Secretary of RSLSA.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p>