Disposed¶16

Janardan Hariram Varma @ Chaudhari v. State of Maharashtra

Bombay HC6 Jan 2026IA/2037/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Legal aid counsel appointment — Bombay HC orders appointment of panel counsel for unrepresented appellant Janardan H. Varma @ Chaudhari in Criminal Appeal No.904 of 2023 who cannot pay fees; N.O.C.-from-advocate-on-record requirement noted; appeal added to weekly final hearing board from 27.01.2026; interim application disposed of on 06.01.2026 by Kotwal & Patil, JJ.

What did the court decide?

Request to the High Court Legal Services Authorities to appoint a suitable panel counsel as legal aid counsel for the Applicant/Appellant in Criminal Appeal No.904 of 2023; appeal listed for the weekly final hearing board commencing 27th January, 2026. ¶16

Janardan Hariram Varma @ Chaudhari vs State of Maharashtra — Bombay HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

¶16

Issue for consideration

Whether the Applicant/Appellant in Criminal Appeal No.904 of 2023, who is unable to pay his fees and for whom nobody appears, should be represented by a legal aid counsel, and whether the appeal should be readied for final hearing.

¶15

Court's answer

Finding the grievance of the Applicant/Appellant to be genuine, the Court held that he deserves legal aid representation and requested the High Court Legal Services Authorities of this Court to appoint a suitable counsel from their panel to represent him in Criminal Appeal No.904 of 2023.

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Ratio / Principle

The Court directed that Criminal Appeal No.904 of 2023 be added to the weekly final hearing board commencing from 27th January, 2026.

¶15

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bombay High Court (Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction), Coram Sarang V. Kotwal & Sandesh D. Patil, JJ., dated 6th January, 2026 — Interim Application No.2037 of 2025 in Criminal Appeal No.904 of 2023 (Janardan H. Varma @ Chaudhari v. State of Maharashtra). The Applicant/Appellant, for whom nobody appeared, applied through Jail for appointment of legal aid counsel as he was unable to pay his fees; the appeal had been filed through Advocate Mangesh Deshmukh, and the High Court Legal Services Authorities required an N.O.C. from the advocate on record before appointing legal aid counsel. Finding the grievance genuine, the Court requested the Legal Services Authorities to appoint a suitable panel counsel for the Applicant/Appellant, directed that the appeal be added to the weekly final hearing board commencing 27th January, 2026, and disposed of the application. No statutes were cited and no precedent was relied upon; the order turns solely on representation/listing logistics.

Janardan Hariram Varma @ Chaudhari v. State of Maharashtra

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Janardan Hariram Varma @ Chaudhari v. State of Maharashtra

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Procedural history

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

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