CAN A PERSON PLEAD HIS OWN CASE????

When any person (whether possessing a law degree or not OR whether enrolled as a lawyer or not) has suffiecient locus-standi in any case and in lieu of that pleads that case himself then it is called appearing in person. A person is said to have sufficient locus- standi in a case only if: 1. He is a PARTY to the case, OR 2. He is a COMPLAINANT. As a complainant or as a party to the dispute , you can contest your case since you are party in person. And Party in person can fight case upto Supreme Court. Many persons are contesting their cases. At this very point it is also important to understand the concept of VAKALATNAMA: A vakalatnama is a authority by a person to any advocate registered under the relevant act to appear on his behalf and conduct the proceedings in any court of law or recognized forum and plead his case. Every application for any case made to the court of law must always contain this vakalatnama when the case is being pleaded by a lawyer representing the client. Therefore it is quite evident from the concept of vakalatnama that the original right and power is always given to the party of a dispute to plead his case. When a lawyer pleads a case representing the client then he does this only under a delegated authority given to him by the client. Definition of pleader as per code of criminal procedure: Pleader not only means a person authorized by law to practice in a court of law but also includes any other person appointed with the permission of the court to act in such proceeding. [s. 2(q)] CRPC. Moreover s.32 of the advocates act appears to be in conformity with the above mentioned provision. However these two sections appears more as prerogative of the courts. The real reasons lie within the philosophy of law and justice system as well as in the concept of vakalatnama. DISTINCTION BETWEEN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASES: In case of private complaint you can fight your own case but if the private complaint gets converted into a state case or in a state case itself, you cannot conduct the case as an advocate. The reason for this is that in a state case the offence is againt the whole society and the STATE is the complainant. The STATE is represented by the public prosecutors. However you can file a vakalatnama of a private lawyer of your choice, who will ASSIST the public prosecutor in the case and can file written arguments. In case if you want your case to be wholly conducted by an advocate of your choice then, you'll have to first obtain permission from the state govt. in respect of the same and that adv. should have a standing practise of at least 10 yrs.