LANDMARK CASE

M.H. Hoskot v. State of Maharashtra

(1978) 3 SCC 544 · Supreme Court of India · Criminal justice

At a glance

Citation: (1978) 3 SCC 544
Court: Supreme Court of India
Area of law: Criminal justice
In one line: Yes. Free legal aid and supply of judgment copies are part of Article 21.

1 Facts

A convict could not appeal in time because he did not receive a copy of the judgment.

2 Issue

Is free legal aid part of fair procedure?

3 What the court decided

Yes. Free legal aid and supply of judgment copies are part of Article 21.

4 Why it matters

It linked legal aid with Article 21.

5 Think about it

How did Article 39A help this reasoning?

6 Analyse it yourself

Read the full judgment from an official source or a law database, then brief it in seven steps: facts, issues, arguments, decision, ratio, obiter and significance. Always check the citation before you rely on it.

7 More cases on Criminal justice

Delhi Domestic Working Women's Forum v. Union of India (1995) 1 SCC 14
Hussainara Khatoon v. Home Secretary, State of Bihar (1980) 1 SCC 81
Laxmi v. Union of India (2014) 4 SCC 427
Mahender Chawla v. Union of India (2019) 14 SCC 615
Prakash Singh v. Union of India (2006) 8 SCC 1
Prem Shankar Shukla v. Delhi Administration (1980) 3 SCC 526

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