Right to a Fair Trial under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution: an antiquity and the contemporary situations

A fair trial is open to the public and is presided over by an impartial judge who treats all parties equally. The right to a fair trial is a fundamental protection of human rights and the rule of law that aims to ensure the administration of justice. A fair trial comprises fair and proper opportunities to show innocence as provided by law. Before the courts and tribunals, everyone is treated equally. Everyone has the right to a fair and public hearing before a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal established by law in the resolution of any criminal charge against him or of his rights and obligations in a legal proceeding. The right to a timely trial is not specifically addressed in the Indian Constitution. The right to a rapid trial stem from the right to a reasonable, fair, and just trial, which stems from the fundamental right to life and personal liberty.

Table of Contents

Fair Trial Under various Provisions

A fair trial requires that the accused person is given an adequate opportunity to defend himself, when the accused person is brought before the court for the trial, the particulars of the offence of which he is accused shall be stated to him, in warrant cases the court has to frame charges, read over and explained to the accused in his mother tongue, which is explained in Sec.211 to 224 of Cr.P.C.

“Lex uno ore omnes allocatur” which means that everyone is equal before the eyes of the law is an important principle that forms the basis of judicial proceedings across the world. The law treats everyone equally and this principle is enshrined in various provisions of the Indian Constitution. Article 14 of the Indian Constitution exclusively deals with the Right to Equality. Trials are an indispensable part of any proceeding. Conducting fair trials is an important aspect of the law that ensures equality.

A fair trial obviously would mean a trial before an impartial judge, a fair prosecutor and an atmosphere of judicial calm. It is Teamwork and every member in the team should play their respective role sincerely, honestly, and fairly by following the established procedure of law and their common goal should be to discover, vindicate and establishment of truth. There should not be any bias or prejudice for or against the accused, the witness, or the cause which is being tried is eliminated. If the witnesses get threatened or are forced to give false evidence or induced, that also would not result in a fair trial. The failure to hear material witnesses is certainly a denial of a fair trial. The example is the BEST BAKERY CASE. In that case, according to the Appellant, there was no fair trial and the entire effort during the trial and at all relevant times before also was to see that the accused persons got acquitted. When the investigating agency helps the accused, the witnesses are threatened to depose falsely and the prosecutor acts in a manner as if he was defending the accused, and the Court was acting merely as an onlooker and there is no fair trial at all, justice becomes the victim.

The concept of a fair trial is not just a right provided in our country but it is also guaranteed by various other legislations all over the world. Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights deals with the Right to a fair trial. According to this article, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time. The trial must be conducted by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law.

Article 14 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) guarantees the right to a fair trial and Article 16 provides a right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law. Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), guarantees the right to a fair trial.

The right to Fair Trial is one of the cornerstones of a just society. Without fair trials, innocent people are convicted and the rule of law and public faith in the justice system collapses. It is a key role of any Government to maintain Law and Order on behalf of the whole society. In the battle against crime and delinquency, the state and its Officers cannot on any account forsake, the decency of State behaviour and have recourse to extra-legal methods for the sake of detection of crimes and even criminals. In a Democratic society, even the rights of the accused are sacrosanct. The right to a fair trial means that people can be sure that the process will be fair and certain, it prevents the government from abusing its powers. The right to a fair trial is recognized internationally as a fundamental human right and countries are required to respect it. In Zahira Habibullah Sheikh and ors. Vs. State of Gujarat and others, reported in (2006) 3 SCC 374 at 395. The Supreme Court of India observed that “each one has an inbuilt right to be dealt with fairly in a criminal trial. Denial of a fair trial is as much injustice to the accused as it is to the victim and society. A fair trial obviously would mean a trial before an impartial judge, a fair prosecutor and an atmosphere of judicial calm. Fair trial means a trial in which bias or prejudice for or against the accused, the witness or the cause which is being tried, is eliminated.”

A trial primarily aimed at ascertaining truth has to be fair to all concerned which includes the accused, the victims and society at large. Each person has a right to be dealt with fairly in a criminal trial. Denial of a fair trial is as much injustice to the accused as it is to the victim and society. An accused has a right to a fair trial. Under our Constitution, as also the international treaties and conventions, the right to get a fair trial is a basic fundamental/human right. The right to defend oneself and for that purpose to adduce evidence is recognized by the Parliament in terms of sub-section (2) of Section 243 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973. “Fair trial” includes fair and proper opportunities allowed by law to prove innocence. Adducing evidence in support of the defence is a valuable right. In a criminal case, denial of that right means denial of a fair trial. This issue now stands concluded by the decision of the Hon’ble Apex Court in Kalyani Baskar (Mrs.) v. M.S. Sampoornam (Mrs.) [(2007) 2 SCC 258].

Presumption of innocence is an important factor to conduct a fair trial as it prevents wrongful convictions. This presumption of innocence is based on Blackstone’s ratio, which is the idea that “It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffers”. This concept of presumption of innocence is also derived from the Latin term ‘Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat’, which means the burden of proof is on the one who declares, not on the one who denies. The prosecution must prove that the accused is guilty with proper evidence beyond any reasonable doubts. Article 14(2) of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights also provides that everyone who is accused is presumed to be innocent as long as it is proved otherwise. Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, also deals with the presumption of innocence

Right To Fair Trial: an Antiquity

In India, we have several sects, and each sect defines the concept of Dharma according to its parameters. In Hindus, the concept of Dharma has been taken from the Sanskrit term, ‘dharm’ which signifies certain order by which society must function for the welfare of human beings and make the functioning of society possible.

In the early Vedic times, we do not find any reference as regards the establishment of judicial procedure. The jurisprudence of Ancient India was shaped by the concept of `Dharma’, or rules of right conduct, as outlined in the various manuals explaining the Vedic scriptures such as `Puranas’ and `Smritis’. The King had no independent authority but derived his powers from `Dharma’, which he was expected to uphold. The distinction between a civil wrong and a criminal offence was clear. While civil wrongs related mainly to disputes arising over wealth, the concept of sin was the standard against which crime was to be defined.

Indian Society as it stood, in India, the King himself was subject to the law; that arbitrary power was unknown to Indian political theory and jurisprudence and the king’s right to govern was subject to the fulfilment of duties the breach of which resulted in forfeiture of kingship; that the judges were independent and subject only to the law and the disputes were decided essentially by the same principles of natural justice which govern the judicial process in the modern State today:

that the rules of procedure and evidence were similar to those followed today; that supernatural modes of proof like the ordeal were discouraged;
that in criminal trials the accused could not be punished unless his guilt was proved according to law;
that in civil cases the trial consisted of four stages like any modern trial – plaint, reply, hearing and decree;
that such doctrines as Res Judicata (prang nyaya) were familiar to Indian jurisprudence;
that all trials, civil or criminal, were heard by a bench of several judges and rarely by a judge sitting singly;
that the decrees of all Courts except the King were subject to appeal or review according to fixed principles; that the fundamental duty of the Court was to do justice “without favour or fear.

Right To Fair Trial: The Contemporary Situation

At the present stage of civilization, it has been universally accepted as a human value that a person accused of any offence should not be punished unless he has been given a fair trial and his guilt has been proved in such a trial. The major attributes of a fair criminal trial are enshrined in Articles 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These articles provide: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations of any criminal charge against him.(Article-10) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to the law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his evidence. (Article-11).

The Indian judiciary plays a significant role in protecting the rights of the people and it has tried to give certain rights like the right to a speedy trial, right to fair trial etc. a constitutional status by including all these rights within the purview of Article 21 of our Constitution. The judiciary in India has played a dynamic role in the dispensation of justice by providing fair and just trials to all its citizens. There isa catena of pronouncements of the Supreme Court and High Courts on the subject of trial wherein the Courts have questioned the delays and discharged the accused. The most glaring malady which has afflicted the judicial concern is the tardy process and inordinate delay that takes place in the disposal of cases. The piling arrears and accumulated workload of different Courts present a frightening scenario. The whole system is crumbling down under the weight of pending cases which go on increasing every day. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer and Justice P.N. Bhagwati were aware of all these maladies. However, judicial delays in India are endemic. No person can hope to get justice in a fairly reasonable period. Proceedings in criminal cases go on for years, sometimes decades. Civil cases are delayed even longer.

The concept of fair trial has permeated every nook and corner of the Criminal Procedure Code. This is what it should be. The major objective of the Code is to provide for a fair trial in the administration of criminal justice, it is 64 but natural that all the provisions of the Code are attuned to this goal. “Each one has an inbuilt right to be dealt with fairly in a criminal trial. Denial of a fair trial is as much injustice to the accused as is to the victim and society. A fair trial obviously would mean a trial before an impartial judge, a fair prosecutor and an atmosphere of judicial calm, Fair trial means a trial in which bias or prejudice for or against the accused, the witnesses or the cause which is being tried is eliminated.”

General Principle Of Fair Trial

The basic principle of the right to a fair trial is that proceedings in any criminal case are to be conducted by a competent, independent and impartial court. In a criminal trial, as the state is the prosecuting party and the police is also an agency of the state, the judiciary must be unchained of all suspicion of executive influence and control, direct or indirect. The whole burden of the fair and impartial trial thus rests on the shoulders of the judiciary in India.

Following are the general principle of fair trial given below:

Presumption of innocence.
Prohibition on double jeopardy.
Knowledge of the accusation.
Right to open trial.
Speedy trial.
Protection against illegal arrest.
Right to bail.
Post-trial rights.
Right against self-incrimination.
Right to file an appeal.
The right to compensation for miscarriage of justice.

Conclusion

The trial of a case is primarily aimed at ascertaining the truth and has to be fair to all concerned. There can be no analytical, comprehensive or exhaustive definition of the concept of a fair trial, and it may have to be determined in a seemingly infinite variety of actual situations with the ultimate object in mind viz., whether something that was done or said either before or at the trial deprived the quality of fairness to a degree where a miscarriage of justice has resulted. A fair trial for a criminal offence consists not only in technical observance of the frame and forms of law but also in recognition and just application of its principles in substance, to find out the truth and prevent miscarriage of justice.

One of the cardinal principles which should always be kept in the mind in our system of administration of justice in criminal cases is that a person arraigned as an accused is presumed to be innocent unless that presumption is rebutted by the prosecution by the production of evidence as may show him to be guilty of the offence, with which he is charged. The burden of proving the guilt of the accused is upon the prosecution and unless it relieves itself of the burden, the courts cannot record a finding of the guilt of the accused. The object of a criminal trial is to convict a guilty person when the guilty is established beyond the reasonable doubt, no less than the court must acquit the accused when such guilt is not so established.

It is not the accused alone that must be fairly dealt with, but also the society at large includes, including the victims or their family members and relatives, must also be dealt with Fairly. Each one has an inbuilt right to be dealt with fairly in a criminal trial. Denial of a fair trial is as much injustice to the accused as is to the victim and society.

The Right to get a fair trial is an essential right of every accused. The concept of a fair trial brings confidence in the public and the people start to believe in the judiciary. It is necessary to follow every above-mentioned aspect to ensure that the trial is free from biases. These rights are not just domestic rights but also the various international conventions that guarantee these rights. Thus, the concept of a fair trial is an essential aspect of every proceeding.

References

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1976,

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948

Basu, Gurga Das. (2002), Introduction to the Constitution of India, Wadhwa Nagpur

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973

Paul Soni, Fair Trial, and its Principles, LAW TIMES JOURNAL

Shivani Rani, Lex uno ore omnes alloquitur, LAW TIMES JOURNAL, July 04, 2022

https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/basic-principles-role-lawyers

About Author

Sheoshree Adhikary, the author of this article, is an Advocate at High Court of Calcutta, West Bengal, India.