legal aid to poor1

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Prof. Hanumant Yadav

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Poverty is deprivation of basic needs. Poverty is lack of opportunity Poverty is a state of helplessness to cope

with hostile forces and exploitative

institutions. Poverty is absence of dignity and self-

respect. Poverty is vulnerability to injustice.

Poverty is a condition to society wherepoor people are made to feel that equalityand freedom are rights enjoyed by theprivileged few only.

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!hat is " #eaning and concepts!hy " $he %eedHow " !ays & #eans!hen and !here"

'nitiatives in di(erent )tates and at %ational level

Present )tatus * %+,)+ )+,)+

,egal )ervice +uthorities

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$raditional /oncept * It denotes the servicesprovided by the State to the poor in theadministration of justice to give formalequality. These services include thepayment of court fees, lawyers fees andincidental cost of litigation.

#odern dynamic /oncept : rovision of!egal Services required for removal of

poverty and social justice to poor.

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't is the constitutional obligation on the)tate to provide ,egal services to poor.

$he legal aid not only includes the bearing

of court and lawyers fees but also legaladvice legal awareness legalmobili0ation public interest litigationP', law reform and a variety of strategic

and preventive services which will help thepoor in easy access to justice. $hus it willpromote social justice.

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+s per expressions in various +rticles of 'ndianconstitutions and decisions of )upreme /ourtand High /ourt poor has not only right to ,egal+id but also a right against poverty.

$hus ,aw is an instrument to remove poverty.$he legal aid programme should work towards

helping the poor to come out of their condition ofhopelessness and helplessness throughknowledge and organi0ation.

,egal aid programme should work towards

helping the poor in e(ective way so that they livea digni1ed life with self respect.

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Poor lack resources so they don2t have easyaccess to law. $hey don2t have money to paycourt fees lawyers fees and bear necessarylitigation expenses.

3 4qual justice for +ll5 requires that the poor alsoshould have easy access to courts and other6ovt. agencies at equal footing. 't also requiresfair treatment within the judicial process.

't is the duty of the )tate to see the poor do haveeasy access to ,aw.

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/ivil /ases * 4xemption of /ourt fees under theprovisions of 7rder of the /ivil Procedure /ode 7rder 88 forappeals. $his assumption was available to poor appellantsand plainti(s not to defendants.

/riminal /ases * )tate to bear legal /osts to

poor accused in cases of capital sentence only. Provision wascontained in the /riminal 9ules of Practice issued by therespective High /ourts of in consultation with )tate6overnments.

,46+, +': ;Y


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,egal +id has been the subject of several high levelcommittees appointed by the /entral and )tate 6overnments.

;ombay 6overnment /ommittee on ,egal +id and +dvice ?@BCheaded byJustice N. H. Bhagwati recommended legal aid beprovided to i +ll eligible persons in civil cases and ii

7(ences punishable with imprisonment and life sentence incriminal cases. $he /ommittee recommended a hierarchicalsystem of legal aid committees at $aluka :istrict 6reater;ombay and )tate level. +ll lawyers would be assignedlegal aid cases. $hey would do up to six with no remunerationand after which they would be paid fees prescribed by the)tate 6overnment.

$he legal +id fund would consist of grants from )tate6overnments and charitable contributions.

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6ovt. of !est ;engal /onstituted a /ommittee in?@BC under chairmanship of )ir +rthur $revorHarris to review the ,egal +id system and submitrecommendations. $he /ommittee submitted its

report in ?@BA on the lies on ;hagwati committeethough less in detail.

'n $amilnadu in ?@BC a /ourt 7rder was issueddirecting the )tate to provide legal aid to

Harijans in cases of litigation. 'n ?@DC the scheme of aid was extended to

person of scheduled tribes also in $amilnadu.

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+ number of )tates launched ,egal +ssistance schemes inEifty2s but they had limited coverage and varied from )tateto )tate.

Eirst signi1cant development took place when 6ovt. ofFerala initiated ,egal +id scheme under Ferala ,egal +id to the Poor 9ules ?@BG.

=nder the 9ules the court or $ribunal wasempowered to grant legal aid to a person whose monthlyincome was not more 9s. ?CC- p.m. $he ,egal +id alsoincluded 1xed fees under rules to lawyers of his choice.$he agency to administer the scheme was court itself.

$he novel feature of the scheme was the provision of legal

representation in cases involving interests of a class orsection of people considered poor. =nder the 9ules the/ourt may direct the 6overnment Pleader or the +dvocate6eneral to appear on behalf of such persons in suitsappeals original petitions or revision petitions.



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$he #aharashtra 6overnment by an administrativeorder issued in ?@BG provided legal assistance toHarijans who desired instituting a civil proceedingclaiming damages by way of compensation forharassment caused to him because of observance

of untouchability denial of drinking water denialof temple entry denial of entry into hotels. 'n ?@IG a scheme was introduced to give ,egal aid

to backward classes including )/s and )$s in civiland criminal proceedings.

$wo other schemes for giving legal aid toundefended poor accused persons in )ession casesin ;ombay and in the mofussils introduced in#aharshtra.



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4ach )tate should formulate a scheme for legalaid to the poor.

$he scheme may envisage appointment ofcommittee at di(erent levels to entertain

applications from the poor for legal aid and toexamine whether the applicants have a primafacie case and deserve a legal aid.

$he scheme should enable requisitioning of theservices of every member of the ;ar up to six

cases in a year.4ach )tate was asked to forward their ,egal

+id to Poor rules to the #inistry of ,aw 6ovt. of'ndia.



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'n ?@DC 6ujrat 6ovt. appointed a /ommitteeunder chairmanship of Justice P.%. ;hagwati/hief justice of 6ujrat High /ourt.

Eor the 1rst time the /ommittee brought outessential linkages between legal aid and the

problems of poverty in the context of 'ndiansocio-economic conditions and advanced aprogramme of legal aid expansive in scope andcomprehensive in application.

$he /ommittee was in favour of giving legal aid

not only in civil and criminal courts but alsobefore $ribunals.$he recommended the function of ,egal +id to be

assigned to professional bodies of lawyers.



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$he /ommittee suggested three types of services *?- ,egal +id proper A. ,egal +dvice as + remedial services

andK- preventive services.

$he content of preventive services involve*". !egal #dviceas preventive service should lead to

negotiated compromise or settlements drafting ofdocuments and administrative assistance.2. Education should not only include legal literacy to poor but

also education of social workers and advocates associatedwith legal aid.

$. %epresentationis intended to police welfare administrationand to asserts legal rights before oLcers to canvassinterests of poor before rule making bodies.

&. %esearch and %eformon continuing basis is an essentialsupport activity. )ocio-economic surveys and studies on thenature and type of injustices the poor su(er are required.

'. Institutional (hanges* +ssigns this task to lawyers.,awyers are to be appointed at rural and urban entitlementcentres by the /ourt.



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$he /ommittee was appointed underchairmanship of Justice


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4stablishment of a %ational ,egal )ervice +uthorityaccountable to Parliament and insulated from oLcialcontrols based on statute involving profession the publicand representative interests.

)impli1cation of legal procedures and emphasis on

conciliated settlements outside court have to be thepolicies of legal aid scheme. )peciali0ed legal services required for special categories

of poor like scheduled castes scheduled tribes defenseservices personnel and their dependents womenchildren and disabled groups workers and those

inhabiting distant areas and island. Eor women and children Eamily /ourts with women

judges independent of civil courts should be set upparticularly in areas of rural poverty and slum areas.



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'nvolvement of law students in legal aid particularly forpreventive legal services. )enior students under propersupervision are to be allowed to appear for poor clients insmall matters and for this purpose an amendment to+dvocates +ct was proposed.

!egal #id in (ivil (ases :

4xtension of jurisdiction of Panchayat /ourts /ompulsory establishment of adequate number of tribunals

which administer justice in respect of poor people2s problems +mendment of 7rder MMM''' and 7rder M,'< of /ivil Procedure

/ode to enable courts to assign pleader at the expense of the)tate.

+mendment of law to permit parties to execute Vakalatnama infavour of the ,egal +id /ommittee. #andatory conciliation in family disputes before granting legal

aid.



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Criminal Cases $he /ommittee was not in favour of legal aid to habitual

o(enders. ,egal service to be provided during investigation stage and post-

conviction stage.

,egal aid should include rehabilitative services as well. $he /ommittee was in favour of salaried lawyers duly

solicitors. 9egular arrangements for aid and advice to inmates of jails and

other custodian institutions are to be provided.


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%ational Juridicare /ommittee dealt thebasic problem of poverty in 'ndia andfavoured redistribution of wealth forsocial justice.

Eive major components of philosophy ofJuridicare /ommittee are as follows *

?. $he objective of the legal servicesprogrammes should be removal of

poverty. 't should aim at prevention andelimination of various kinds of injusticeswhich the poor as a class su(er.



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A. +s the removal of poverty depends upon radicaltransformation of the present socio-economicstructure the legal services program should aimi at elimination of all those unjust institutions

which generate and perpetuate poverty andii creation of a new socio-economic order based

on liberty equality and dignity of man.

K. $he legal services program should work towards

helping the poor to come out of their condition ofhopelessness and helplessness throughknowledge organi0ation and power.



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8. $he legal services programme should identifylawyers who should pose them against law whereever law is the reNection of an unjust social order.

B. $he legal services program should recogni0e theinter-relatedness of the social economic legaleducational and psychological problems whichbeset the poor and involve all segments of society.

$he approach of the committee was very

radical as it openly advocated revolutionaryagenda.



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$H+%F Y7=



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?. Problems which condition the utili0ation of legal remedies

by the poor.A. )cope of the concept of equal justice under law.K. Provisions in the existing system for equality in legal

services "8. 4xisting ,egal +id system and its bene1ts to the poor.B. 9elationship between ,aw and Poverty.I. $he legal needs of the poorD. =tili0ation of the ,egal system by the poor O poor people

have problem of +ccess). !egal #id * %ationale9ight against Poverty * + /onstitutional 9ight

,egal +id O + constitutional 9equirement



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)ocial +ction and access to judicial9emedies

,egal +id O $oday ,egal +id 7rgani0ation Publicity and Promotion of schemes for the

poor %ational ,egal )ervices +uthority %+,)+

+ct /ommittee for 'mplementation ,egal +id

)chemes /',+)

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legal aid to poor1

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