Legal Aid Service in India

In a diverse country like India, Government is responsible for the

accommodation as well as to safeguard the rights and dignity of the
citizens and also access to justice is a fundamental right under Article
14 and 21 of the constitution. In India, which is the most populated
country in the world, the major part of individuals doesn’t know about
the legal system of our country and furthermore how to protected their
rights. Even though the individuals who know about it, they are not in a
position to manage the cost of hiring a good advocate because of their
monetary and social backwardness. Therefore, Legal Aid is very
important because it aims to create a bridge between the rich and poor
in the society in order to provide equality to seek justice in the court of
law.
The 14th Report of the Law commission gave the idea of providing free
legal aid to the poor by the State and later, in 1960, Union Government
initiated the national legal aid scheme but in failed due to financial
shortage. Again, in 1973, the scheme was relaunched and Parliament
also added Article 39-A in the constitution, added by 42nd amendment
in 1976, which stats the State shall secure that the operation of the
legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and
shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or
schemes or in any way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice
are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities
but there was no central authority . In 1980, the committee on National
Implementation of Legal Aid was constituted with Justice Bhagwati as
its head and finally, in 1987, Legal Service Authority Act was enacted to
provide free and adequate legal services to the weaker sections of the
society as well as to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are
not denied to any citizen due to economic or other disabilities and,
lastly, to organize Lok Adalat’s to secure that the operation of the legal
system gives equal opportunity for justice.
Under this act, three layers of Legal Service Authority was setup i.e.,
NALSA (NationalLegal Service Authority), SLSA (State Legal Service
Authority) and DALSA (District Legal Service Authority). This Legal
Service Authorities help in providing free Legal Services to the poorer
sections of the society and to organize Lok Adalat’s for settlement of
disputes.
Provisions this act include: -
 Payment of court fee and all other charges related to legal
proceedings.
 Providing an Advocate
 Obtaining the certified copies of the order and other document
 Giving an advice on any legal matter
Legal Service are of two types i.e., Pre-litigation legal service and post-
litigation service. Pre-litigation includes legal education, legal advice,
legal awareness, pre-litigation settlement etc. while post- litigation
provides free legal services to poor and socially downtrodden people.
Who is entitled to receive Legal Aid?
According to Section 12 of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 a
person is entitled to get free legal aid the act if person is:
 a member of SC or ST
 a victim of human trafficking or beggar
 a women or child
 a person with disability as defined in Section 2(i) of Person with
disabilities Act
 a person who is victim of a disaster, violence, caste atrocity, flood
drought, earthquake or industrial disaster.
 an individual workman
 in custody - Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, in a Juvenile
home, in a psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home,
Mental Health Act, 1987.
Legal Aid Services aims to a bridge between the poor and rich in the
society in order to provide equality to seek justice in the court of law.
Even Supreme Court, the apex court of the country, held that, in
Hussainara Khatoon vs. State of Bihar, if accused is not able to afford
the cost of legal services, then he has right to get legal aid at cost of the
state and in M H Hoskot case, court held that there will be failure of
equal justice under the law where legal representation is absent on one
side. Legal Aid is also provided under criminal cases, according to
340(1) of CRPC, if a trial before the sessions judge, if the accused has
not sufficient means to engage a pleader, the court should assign a
pleader for his defence at the expense of the State. In the case Tara
Singh vs State also, court held that if a man was charged with an
offence punishable with death, the court must provide him with a
counsel upon his request as it is his privilege to have counsel.
Benefit of Legal Aid Service
 It has increased people’s trust in the fairness of the system.
 It has made the judicial system accessible to everyone.
 It has made the judicial system work more efficiently.
 It has empowered citizens by informing them about the different
paths besides post-litigation.
 As a result, it has helped in getting better judgments.
There are certain challenges related to legal aid service like lack of
awareness because most of the people don’t know about this service
due to, they are deprived of their rights and don’t get fair justice,
secondly, there is also a perception in mind of people that the quality of
service provided by authorities will not be good. Thirdly, Lok Adalat’s
which are organised by Legal Service Authorities don’t any rights other
than civil cases. At last, Legal aid means free legal service to the people
for the welfare of the Society. In India, many efforts have been made
towards providing free legal aid service for example the introduction of
Lok Adalat’s. As, it is the right of a person to ask for legal aid if he is not
able to afford it. Moreover, government should organise some
workshop or awareness campaign in the rural areas to create
awareness among poor people. It will help them to get appropriate
justice as well as it will also help in welfare of society.