Convicts can argue cases on their own, through video calls from prison: Madras High Court

Madras High Court allows convicts to argue cases via video conference, without lawyer, from prison.

A convict wanting to argue a case on his own without engaging a lawyer, need not be necessarily brought to court in person. He/she can also be permitted to argue the matter though video conference from the prison, Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala said on Wednesday, February 21, 2024.

The Chief Justice said so when a writ petition filed by R. Subramanian, promoter of various financial institutions including the once-popular retail chain Subhiksha, was listed for hearing before the first Division Bench, also consisting of Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, for deciding its maintainability.

The petitioner’s counsel told the court that his client was convicted in an economic offence case in November 2023 and sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment. However, since many of his cases were pending before the High Court, he wanted to argue some of them on his own without engaging a lawyer.

The judges said a blanket order could not be passed by the court, permitting the convict to argue all his cases in person, without knowing the details of those cases. Therefore, they directed the counsel to first submit by April 3, a list of the cases that the petitioner wanted to argue on his own.

Thereafter, necessary orders would be passed with respect to his request to let him argue the cases on his own, they said. The Chief Justice said the convict could also be allowed to argue the matter through video conference from the prison instead of being brought to the court in person.