An ailing single woman from a low-income family, who was convicted by three courts in a cheque bounce case, finally received some relief after the Supreme Court accepted her application for free legal aid to file a special leave petition (SLP).
Kusum Sharma, daughter of Sidhu Ram from Sunder Nagar in Mandi district, was convicted by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sundernagar, in a cheque bounce case. She was sentenced on December 31, 2021, to nine months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,25,000.
She had argued that Kamla Devi had taken a blank cheque from her house, misused it and later filed a false case under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. However, the court did not accept her plea.
She said that she had responded to the notice, fought the case and even got the handwriting on the cheque examined by forensic experts, but the verdict still went against her.
Sharma then appealed before the Additional Sessions Judge, Sundernagar, but her appeal was dismissed on July 28, 2022, and the sentence was upheld.
Later, she challenged the decision of the Additional Sessions Judge in the High Court, but the High Court also confirmed her sentence on August 7.
She approached the Legal Services Committee of the Supreme Court, saying she was an ailing, poor divorcee and a single woman with no income. She requested free legal aid under the Legal Services Authority Act to challenge the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s order in the Supreme Court.
Advocate Mahesh Sharma, who has been representing her without charging any fee, said that although three courts ruled against her, her case is now pending before the Supreme Court.
"The applicant was not in a position to contest the case before the Supreme Court and was ready to surrender but I advised her to file a case through the free legal aid committee of the Supreme Court and send the application to the committee twice but no one entertained the application. The application was also sent through the District Legal Aid Committee, Mandi, but nothing happened," he added.
Finally, an application was prepared and sent to Justice Surya Kant, then chairman of the National Legal Services Committee. After that, the Secretary of Justice contacted Sharma, asked for her documents, and informed her that an advocate had been appointed for her.
Normally, a convicted person must surrender before filing an SLP. But in Sharma’s case, she has been exempted from surrendering, and her SLP has been accepted, the advocate said.
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