Cuttack: Ruling that an accused convicted by a trial court cannot be deprived of his right to have his appeal against the conviction examined on merits, merely because he or a lawyer representing him fails to appear, Orissa high court has quashed the conviction and sentence of a man in a house-trespassing and theft case.“The inviolable right of a convict to have his appeal heard on merits cannot be extinguished by dismissing the appeal for non-prosecution. Dismissing a convict’s appeal for non-prosecution is a folly that the law does not permit. Courts are temples of justice, not turnstiles (barriers) that shut on technicalities,” Justice V Narasingh ruled.The ruling came on Aug 17, while considering a criminal revision petition by one Basanta Kumar Pal, whose appeal against his conviction and a year’s rigorous imprisonment by the JMFC, Cuttack, was dismissed by the sessions court for default. The web copy of the judgment was released online on Wednesday.Justice Narasingh observed that once a person’s liberty has been curtailed following conviction, any further restriction must strictly conform to due process. “Procedure is meant to facilitate justice, not to strangulate it,” the judge said.As none appeared when the matter was called on May 6, 2026, the high court appointed advocate Satabdi Samantray as amicus curiae to represent Pal in the matter. The issue assumed added significance when amicus curiae brought to its notice an apparent violation of a crucial safeguard during the trial.The high court noted that Pal’s statement during the trial was recorded mechanically and his attention was not properly drawn to the incriminating circumstances emerging from the prosecution evidence. As a result, a fair hearing was not ensured before the trial court reached the finding of guilt.Taking it on record, Justice Narasingh quashed Pal’s conviction and sentence, observing that sending the matter back after more than 23 years would be “an empty formality” and futile exercise.Pal, now in his 50s was convicted by the JMFC, Cuttack, in connection with a 2003 house-trespassing and theft case, and sentenced to a year’s rigorous imprisonment (RI) on July 30, 2013. While he was on bail, his appeal was dismissed for default in 2014.After being taken into custody in 2016, Pal, a resident of Cuttack district, approached the high court on Sept 21 that year, and was granted bail on Nov 21. The matter, which had remained pending thereafter, was taken up by the high court following submission of the well-being certificate by the state counsel on May 6, 2026.