Refusal by local lawyers to oppose fellow advocates undermines right to fair trial: HC orders transfer of case

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that a litigant’s fundamental right to fair trial is eroded when local advocates refuse to provide effective legal assistance due to undue influence or hostile environment especially in cases where the accused is a fellow lawyers practicing in the same court. Justice Harpreet Singh Brar’s Bench added such circumstances might constitute a valid ground for the trial’s transfer from one court to another.

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“It is trite law that the inability to engage a legal counsel owing to reluctance caused by local factors may constitute a valid ground for transfer of trial under Section 407 of the CrPC now Section 447 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS),” Justice Brar observed.

In his detailed order, Justice Brar added a hostile or inhibiting environment—where legal representation becomes practically inaccessible—struck at the core of free and fair trial, warranting judicial intervention.

“The inability of a litigant to secure effective legal assistance due to reluctance caused by undue influence or creation of a hostile environment by the opposite party, especially where the accused is an advocate practicing in the same Court, compromises the foundational principles of fair trial,” Justice Brar observed, while ordering the transfer of a trial from Amritsar district to Hoshiarpur.

Justice Brar also referred to the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of “Zahira Habibullah Sheikh versus the State of Gujarat” to assert that meaningful access to justice included the creation of a neutral atmosphere, where parties could participate freely with competent legal aid.

The directions came on a petition seeking the trial’s transfer in a case alleging forged Will stemming from an FIR registered in September 2018 for cheating, forgery and other offences pending before Ajnala Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate to Tarn Taran or any other place outside Amritsar district.

The Bench was told that the respondents included advocates practicing in the same district where the FIR was pending. “For this reason, no advocate from the said district is willing to represent the petitioner, which has caused great prejudice and inconvenience to him,” it was added.

Before parting, Justice Brar ordered the trial’s transfer pending before Ajnala Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, and an application for cancellation of bail pending before Amritsar Additional Sessions Judge, to the jurisdiction of Hoshiarpur Sessions Judge.