Delay in filing appeals in NIA cases can be condoned: Bombay HC

Access to justice is a fundamental right and it cannot be rendered illusory or subject to chance the Bombay High Court on Thursday said ruling that appellate courts can condone delays and hear appeals filed beyond the mandatory 90day period under the NIA ActUnder section 21 5 of the National Investigation Agency NIA Act no appeal shall be entertained after an expiry of period of 90 days from the date of the order under challengeA division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Gauri Godse allowed a plea filed by one Faizal Mirza arrested by the NIA seeking condonation of delay of 838 days in filing appeal seeking bailMirza had filed an appeal challenging a March 2020 order passed by a special NIA court rejecting his bail pleaThe high court in its judgment noted the NIA Act has to be read in conjunction with other laws and cannot be said to be a complete code in itselfThe bench also expressed its displeasure with the contradictory stand taken by the NIA The HC noted that while in this plea filed by the accused the agency said delay cannot be condoned but in other HCs the agency had itself filed petitions seeking condonation of delay in appeal filed by itNIA being a central investigating agency is expected to take one stand either ways for or against The stand cannot change to suit its needs We are unable to see any meritreason in the contradictory stand taken by the NIA before different high courts the Bombay HC saidThe right of an accused to file an appeal against his conviction is linked to Article 21 of the Constitution of India it saidPresumption of innocence is a human right and the said principle forms the basis of criminal jurisprudence in India Presumption of innocence being a facet of Article 21 the same enures to the benefit of the accused the HC saidAn appeal being an extension of the trial there exists a fundamental right to file an appeal and this right cannot be rendered illusory or subject to chance it addedCourts exist to do justice Access to justice is a fundamental right and cannot be diluted the HC saidTime and again courts have held that access to justice an invaluable human right is also recognised as a fundamental right the bench said in its judgmentIn India access to justice has been recognised as a valuable right by courts even before the Constitution came into force the bench saidAn accused stands nothing to gain by filing an appeal belatedly in as much as it is the accused who continues to suffer incarceration and it is the accused who will stand prejudiced by filing an appeal belatedly The NIA suffers no prejudice the court saidThe HC said that not just the accused but even the prosecution should be able to approach the appellate court after expiry of 90 days on sufficient cause being shown for the delayas even closing the doors to the prosecuting agency can also lead to serious consequences as the NIA Act is concerned with the national sovereignty security and integrity of India friendly relations with foreign State and offences under Acts enacted to implement international treaties agreements conventions and resolutions of the United Nations its agencies and other international organisations the HC saidThe high court held that if this provision was held to be mandatory then it would lead to travesty of justice even in cases where the accused is able to show sufficient cause for not filing an appeal within the prescribed period as stipulatedThe reasons for not filing appeal on time could be several like financial condition of the accused to engage a lawyer lack of legal knowledge of his right to file an appeal no member of the family to assisthelp engage a lawyer for the accused and having no family member and so on it saidAccess to justice is and has been recognised as a part and parcel of right to life in India and in all civilised societies around the globe the court notedThe right is so basic and inalienable that no system of governance can possibly ignore its importancesignificance leave alone afford to deny the same to its citizens it addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever