In a significant development underscoring the reach of judicial accessibility, the Supreme Court has extended a vital lifeline to an ailing, low-income single woman from Himachal Pradesh. After facing successive convictions in three lower courts regarding a cheque bounce case, the litigant has successfully secured free legal aid to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP), following the direct intervention of the National Legal Services Committee.
Kusum Sharma, a resident of Sunder Nagar in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, found herself at a legal dead end after the Himachal Pradesh High Court confirmed her conviction. Sharma, a divorcee with no source of income and suffering from health issues, had approached the Supreme Court’s Legal Service Committee seeking aid under the Legal Services Authority Act.
According to Advocate Mahesh Sharma, who had been representing the petitioner pro bono, the path to the apex court was fraught with procedural hurdles. Initial applications sent to the Supreme Court’s free legal aid committee and the District Legal Aid Committee in Mandi reportedly garnered no response.
Facing imminent incarceration and lacking the funds to pursue litigation in New Delhi, the defense drafted a direct application to Justice Surya Kant, a Supreme Court judge and the Chairman of the National Legal Service Committee. This move proved decisive. The Secretary of Justice subsequently contacted Sharma, processed her documents, and appointed an advocate to represent her cause.
The legal ordeal began on December 31, 2021, when the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM), Sundernagar, convicted Sharma under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. She was sentenced to nine months of imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of Rs 2,25,000.
During the trial, the defense argued that the complainant, one Kamla Devi, had allegedly misappropriated a blank cheque from Sharma’s residence to file a false case. Despite contesting the notice and submitting a forensic examination of the handwriting on the cheque, the trial court ruled against Sharma.
Subsequent appeals failed to overturn the verdict. The Additional Sessions Judge, Sundernagar, dismissed her appeal on July 28, 2022, sustaining the sentence. On August 7, the Himachal Pradesh High Court also upheld the lower courts’ findings, seemingly closing the door on further relief.
A pivotal aspect of the Supreme Court’s acceptance of this case is the procedural relief granted regarding surrender. Standard legal practice dictates that a convict must surrender to the authorities before filing a Special Leave Petition.
However, Advocate Mahesh Sharma noted that in this specific instance, the Supreme Court has exempted Kusum Sharma from surrendering, allowing the SLP to be entertained despite her remaining out of custody. This exception highlights the court’s sensitivity to the petitioner’s precarious financial and health status.
The case is now pending before the Supreme Court of India, offering a final avenue of hope for the petitioner who had previously expressed a readiness to surrender due to her inability to fund a defense in the country’s highest court.
