Practical Training Assignment

Rahul Prakash Pillai

III-II-D Roll no 10 (old) 49 (new)

Contact no. 9930073968

Question 1

Elucidate the basic features of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 in
detail with the amendments.
Answer to Question 1

Our Constitution, in its very Preamble assures and affirms all of us, the people of India, that the
State formed by us with our very own blood and heroic struggle, would strive to provide us, the
citizens of India, Justice- social, economic and political.

On the same line, Article 39A of our Constitution provides for free legal aid to the poor and
weaker sections of society and to promote justice on the basis of equal opportunity.

Article 14 mandates the State to provide equality before the law.

In response to what was provided for by our Constitution, in 1987, the Legal Services
Authorities Act was enacted by Parliament, which came into force on 9th November, 1995 to
establish a nationwide uniform network for providing free and competent legal services to the
weaker sections of society, known as legal aid. The person to whom legal aid is granted can avail
legal advice and representation pro bono.

The illustrious Justice Bhagwati had explained legal aid as equal justice in action and as the
delivery of social justice. He even linked legal aid to Article 21 of our Constitution, and stated
that legal aid to the needy was an essential ingredient of a just, fair, and reasonable legal process,
which is a component of the right to life and liberty.

The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted under the Legal Services
Authorities Act, 1987 .

The principal objective of NALSA is to provide legal aid to the weaker sections of the society
and to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of
economic or other disabilities, and to organize Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes,
spreading legal literacy and awareness, and undertaking social justice litigations.

The Chief Justice of India is the Patron-in-Chief and the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court
of India is the Executive Chairman of the Authority. It also consists of other members
possessing such experience and qualifications as maybe prescribed and nominated by the Central
Government. The Central Government also appoints a person to be Member –Secretary of the
Central Authority

At present, NALSA is housed at 12/11, Jam Nagar House, New Delhi-110011.

In addition to the national body, keeping with our federal structure, in every State, a State Legal
Services Authority is constituted to give effect to the policies and directions of the Central
Authority, to give legal services to the people and to conduct Lok Adalats in the State. It also
undertakes preventative and strategic legal programs.

The State Legal Services Authority is headed by the Chief Justice of the State High Court who is
its Patron-in-Chief. A serving or retired Judge of the High Court is nominated as its Executive
Chairman.

The High Court State Legal Services Authority includes a Chairman who is a sitting High Court
judge, members to be nominated by Chief Justice of High Court and a Secretary.

The District Legal Services Authority is constituted in every District to implement Legal Aid
Programmes and Schemes in the District. The District Judge of the District is its ex-officio
Chairman.

It co-ordinates the activities of Taluk Legal Services Committee and other legal services
in the district, and conducts Lok Adalats in the district.

Taluk Legal Services Committees are also constituted for each of the Taluk or Mandal or for
group of Taluk or Mandals to coordinate the activities of legal services in the Taluk and to
organise Lok Adalats.

Every Taluk Legal Services Committee is headed by a senior Civil Judge operating within the
jurisdiction of the Committee who is its ex-officio Chairman. The functions performed by it
include coordinating the activities of legal services and organising Lok Adalats, within the taluk.

The following persons are entitled to legal services under Section 12 of this
Act:-

1. Members of Scheduled Tribe or Scheduled Caste

2. Victims of trafficking in human beings or beggars
3. Women and children
 4. Persons with disability
5. Victims of mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or
industrial disaster.
6. Persons in custody, including custody in protective homes like juvenile home
7. Persons whose annual income is less than 9 thousand rupees as prescribed by State
Government and 12 thousand rupees as prescribed by Central Government.

Lok Adalats

Lok Adalat is an Alternative dispute resolution mechanism in India, a forum wherein

cases pending or at pre litigation stage in a court of law are settled. They are conferred
statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Under this Act, the award
(decision) made by the Lok Adalat is deemed to be a decree of a civil court and is final
and binding on all parties, and no appeal against such an award lies before any court of
law.
If the parties are dissatisfied with the award, they are free to initiate litigation by
approaching the court of appropriate jurisdiction, but cannot prefer an appeal against the
award.

Central, State, District and Taluk Legal Services Authority has been created who are responsible
for organizing Lok Adalats at such intervals and place.

Lok Adalat consists of :-

-A serving or judicial officer or

-Other persons as prescribed by Central Authority or State Authority or District Authority

The Lok Adalat redress the following disputes:-

-Any pending case

-Any matter which is falling within the jurisdiction of , and is not brought before any court in
which Lok Adalat is being organized

What cases are referred to the Lok Adalats?

-By consent of both the parties to the disputes, or

 -One of the parties makes an application for reference, or

-Where the Court is satisfied that the matter is an appropriate one to be taken cognizance
of by the Lok Adalat.

Compromise and settlement shall be guided by the principles of justice, equity, fair play
and other legal principles.

Where no compromise has been arrived at through conciliation, the matter shall be
returned to the concerned court for disposal in accordance with Law.

Explain the concept of award in Lok Adalat ?

After the agreement is arrived by the consent of the parties, award is passed by the conciliators.
The matter need not be referred to the concerned Court for consent decree. The provisions of the
Act envisages as under:

-Every award of Lok Adalat shall be deemed as decree of Civil Court

-Every award made by the Lok Adalat shall be final and binding on all the parties to the
dispute.
-No appeal shall lie from the award of the Lok Adalat.

What are the powers of Lok Adalat ?

-To summon and enforce the attendance of any witness and examining him on oath

-To discover and produce any document

-The reception of evidence on affidavits

-The requisitioning of any public record or document or copy of such record or document
from any court or office.

-Lok adalat shall have requisite power to specify its own procedure for the determination
of any dispute coming before it .

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Lok Adalat ?

Advantages :-

-Lok Adalats are aimed at saving time and financial resources of the parties
 -Familial and minor issues are redressed in a satisfactory and speedy manner by these
Lok Adalats in comparison to courts since they provide settlement outside court in a fair
and just manner. It saves time and expense. It is also easier for parties to make their
claims which is not the case when the matter is in court and witnesses are afraid of
getting involved into legal matters.

-They are aimed at saving judicial time and to reduce the eye-watering backlog of cases
that we are plagued with.

-Lok Adalats are more advantageous for the illiterate. Proceedings are conducted in
simple arrangements and in local languages.

-There is no need for advocates by the victim and the convict, who can either prefer to
have their cases pleaded by a lawyer or simply speak to the judge about the matter
directly. This is not a possibility in courts where a third person pleads the case and the
people involved only get a say when their turn comes.

-Even if the case is filed in court, the expenses are refunded to the party when the case is
redressed by Lok Adalat. There is no court fee.

Disadvantages:-

-Speedier justice comes at a price of settlement made at the cost of lesser compensation
and the petitioner has no time to claim higher amount which he justly should have got as
seen in many cases after which apex court ordered Lok Adalat to be watchful about not
impairing the right of any party involved in the issue. Faster and easier justice must not
come at the price of injustice.

-Lok Adalats aim to bring about settlement and compromise, which is not what every
case requires. Most cases in India require punishment and correctional methods which is
not within the purview of Lok adalats. These cases would usually fail here and would
then be recommended to courts.

The amendments to the Act provide for establishment of Permanent Lok Adalats.

Permanent Lok Adalats are to be chaired by District Judge, Additional District Judge, or a person
holding a higher judicial office, and two persons who are possessing requisite experience in
public utility services.

The basic features of a permanent Lok Adalat are identical to a Lok Adalat. There are, however,
certain modifications. The key difference is that a typical Lok Adalat can only be summoned
occasionally and not on a daily basis, a permanent Lok Adalat is an established system which is
operational throughout just like any other court or tribunal.
The Permanent Lok Adalats exercise jurisdiction over one or more public utility services such as
transportation and light.

Any offence which is not compundable or where the proceedings involve an amount which
exceeds pecuniary limit of rupees ten lakhs cannot be entertained by these bodies.

Matters may be referred to Permanent Lok Adalats by any of the [arties before commencement
of proceedings, and the terms of settlement shall be suggested to the parties by the adalat, and if
agreed to by parties shall be passed as a binding decree of this body.

Question 2

Explain the role of judicial activism in public interest litigation in reference to

relevant case laws
Answer to Question 2

To confer a right without remedy, is to create a tiger without teeth. A right which cannot be
enforced is a declaration not worth the paper it is printed on.

The citizens of India have been conferred a bountiful set of rights, but when most of the people
were desperately poor and ignorant, they could not seek relief of the courts when their rights
were trampled upon. The long and complex process of litigation and the mammoth costs of
availing skillful advocates ensured that justice existed only on paper, and far beyond the reach of
the downtrodden masses of our nation. The law allowed only those whose rights had been
violated to seek redressal, for only they were seen as having standing ground for litigation (locus
standi), but for most of such people, court litigation was far beyond their means.

And so, it seemed, it was their fate to have their rights ground to dust in front of their eyes.

But our founding fathers of the Constitution, and our enlightened judiciary, especially the
inspired J.Bhagwati, would not let the hopes of the poor be dashed. And thus was born the
concept of public interest litigation.

Public interest litigation can be understood as court proceedings initiated by public spirited
citizens representing, and on behalf of some person(s) who could not initiate proceedings for
want of resources by filing a petition before the Supreme Court under Art.32 of the Constitution
or before the High Court under Art.226 of the Constitution or before the Court of Magistrate
under Sec. 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The motive should be public interest
 (matter in which the public or a substantial portion thereof is interested) and not any other
extraneous concern.

Behind the public spirited petitioner the court could see the faces of the disparate populace in
frantic need of justice. It has even been called a partnership between the people and the judiciary.
This has broadened the archaic, limited locus standi and created an epistolary jurisdiction

Public interest litigations have given the destitute and downtrodden access to the apex court of
our land. These litigations have democratized our institutions and have brought various
government agencies under judicial scanner.

Public Interest Litigations may have had their genesis in India., in 1976 in Mumbai Kamgar
Sabha vs. Abdul Thai, decided by Justice Krishna Iyer and was also initiated in Akhil Bharatiya
Shoshit Karmachari Sangh (Railway) v. Union of India, wherein an unregistered association of
workers was permitted to institute a writ petition under Art.32 of the Constitution for the
redressal of common grievances.

The concept of 'Public Interest Litigation' took hold in S.P. Gupta and others vs. Union of India,
decided by Justice Bhagwati. In the aforementioned case it was held that where a legal wrong or
a legal injury is caused to a person or to a determinate class of persons by reason of violation of
any constitutional or legal right or any burden is imposed in contravention of any constitutional
or legal provision or without authority of law or any such legal wrong or legal injury or illegal
burden is threatened and such person or determinate class of persons is by reason of poverty,
helplessness or disability or socially or economically disadvantageous position, unable to
approach the Court for relief, any member of the public can maintain an application for an
appropriate direction, order or writ in the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of
India or in the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India seeking judicial
redress for the legal wrong or injury caused to such person or determinate class of persons.

Public interest litigations were an aspect of a wider trend, that of judicial activism.

Judicial activism, can be understood as judges being guided by their personal feelings, morals
and rationale beside other criteria, instead of existing law, while deciding some matter of public
interest. Judicial activism is an attempt to go beyond the law and towards justice, seeing as law is
a means to an end, and that end being justice.

Judicial activism is when the judiciary makes new law instead of merely implementing existing
law. It often takes place when the law is unclear or inadequate, or the established procedure
instead of being a “handmaiden of justice”, becomes an obstruction to justice. The Supreme
Court played crucial role in formulating several principles in public interest litigation cases. For
instance, the principle of "Absolute Liability" was propounded in the Oleum Gas Leak case,
“Public Trust Doctrine” in Kamalnath Case.
 Judicial activism was born out of judicial review. Judicial review is the power reserved by the
higher judiciary to strike down a law of the legislature or any executive action as invalid and
ultra vires due to being in breach of the Constitution. Justice Coke of England is often credited
with being the pioneer of judicial review.

More often than not, PILs have become a means and modus operandi of judicial activism.
Judicial activism is often made possible by PILs.

The makers of our Constitution had a vision of a Judiciary which would be a guardian to the
Constitution and a bastion, a rampart of justice. Judicial activism has been a decisive force
towards the achievement of this vision, and the means have often taken the shape of public
interest litigations.

Judicial activism has been a fundamental reason for the manner in which the courts have
interpreted the fundamental rights and directive principles. The courts have often held that
fundamental rights and directive principles are not at opposition but complementary to each
other, and have even used the fundamental rights to enforce the directive principles which are not
actually justiciable, and have often utilized the directive principles to glean more rights out of the
fundamental rights than what could have been understood from a more cursory, disjointed
reading thereof. Supreme Court in State of Tamil Nadu Vs. L. Abu Kavur Bai held that although
the directive principles are not enforceable yet the court should make an attempt at harmonising
and reconciling the directive principles and the fundamental rights and any collision between the
two should be avoided as far as possible.

The object has been to place citizens at a centre stage and make the State accountable.
Fundamental Rights must not be read in isolation but together with directive principles and
fundamental duties.

This approach has come to the fore most prominently, in public interest litigations.

In Fertilizer Corporation Kamgar Sabha v. Union of India, the Court held that Public Interest
Litigation is part of the process of participative justice and standing in civil litigations of that
pattern must have liberal reception at the judicial doorsteps.

In Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India, a social cause organisation approached the
Supreme Court through a letter under Article 32 to request the Honourable Supreme Court to
investigate the existence of inhuman conditions in certain mines where numerous persons were
working as forced/bonded labourers.

The Supreme Court directed and appointed two inquiry commissions to find out the true facts
and circumstances as alleged by the petitioner.

The Court rebuked the State government for raising a preliminary objection to stall an inquiry by
the Court into the matter in the following words: “We should have thought that if any citizen
brings before the Court a complaint that a large number of peasants or workers are bonded serfs
or are being subjected to exploitation by a few mine lessees or contractors or employers or are
being denied the benefits of social welfare laws, the State Government, which is, under our
constitutional scheme, charged with the mission of bringing about a new socioeconomic order
where there will be social and economic justice for every one and equality of status and
opportunity for all, would welcome an inquiry by the court, so that if it is found that there are in
fact bonded labourers or even if the workers are not bonded in the strict sense of the term as
defined in the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976 but they are made to provide forced
labour or are consigned to a life of utter deprivation and degradation such a situation can be set
right by the State Government.”