Srinagar: Over 200 judges of the State High Courts and the Supreme Court of India are going to attend a national conference on legal services at the end of the current month in Srinagar.
Highly placed sources in the Union Ministry of Law and Justice revealed that the National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA), in coordination with the Supreme Court of India and the State High Courts across the country, would be organising a 3-day national conference on legal services at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar on 29-30 June and 1 July.
The decision to hold the major legal services conference has been taken in view of the grand success of the G20 international conference and a remarkably positive response to the conclave in May.
According to the authoritative sources associated with the arrangements, over 200 judges of different State and Union Territory High Courts and the Supreme Court of India, including all High Court Chief Justices and the Chief Justice of India, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, would be participating in the conference. Sources said that the Union Minister of State for Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, would be among the top dignitaries speaking at the conference.
The Attorney General of India and the Solicitor General of India are also likely to attend the conference at the convention centre on the picturesque banks of the world famous Dal Lake which remained in the international news for the G20 conclave from 22 to 25 May, 2023.
Chief Justice of India, Dr D.Y. Chandrachud, happens to be the Patron-in-Chief of the NALSA while as a son of the soil from Srinagar, Kashmir, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, is its Executive Chairman.
Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, Justice N. Kotiswar Singh is the Patron-in-Chief of the State Legal Services Authority (SLSA). Justice Tashi Rabstan is functioning as its Executive Chairman. Justice Sindhu Sharma is currently Chairperson of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Legal Services Committee.
NALSA has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 to provide free Legal Services to the weaker sections of the society and to organize Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes.
In every State, the State Legal Services Authority has been constituted to give effect to the policies and directions of the NALSA and to give free legal services to the people and conduct Lok Adalats in the State. The State Legal Services Authority is headed by the Chief Justice of the respective High Court who is the Patron-in-Chief of the State Legal Services Authority. The senior most judge of the High Court is nominated as Executive Chairman, SLSA.
In every District, District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) has been constituted to implement Legal Services Programmes in the District. The DLSA is situated in the District Courts Complex in every District and chaired by the District Judge of the respective district. A Civil judge cadre judicial officer is appointed as Secretary on full time basis.
Article 39-A of the Constitution of India provides that 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 other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disability.
Articles 14 and 22(1) also make it obligatory for the State to ensure equality before law and a legal system which promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity to all. Legal aid strives to ensure that constitutional pledge is fulfilled in its letter and spirit and equal justice is made available to the poor, downtrodden and weaker sections of the society.
Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 prescribes the criteria for giving legal services to the eligible persons. Every person who has to file or defend a case shall be entitled to legal services under this Act if that person is a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe; a victim of trafficking in human beings or begar as referred to in Article 23 of the Constitution; a woman or a child; a mentally ill or otherwise disabled person; a person under circumstances of undeserved want such as being a victim of a mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster; or an industrial workman; or in custody, including custody in a protective home within the meaning of clause (g) of section 2 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (104 of 1956); or in a juvenile home within the meaning of clause.
The beneficiaries include persons from several other categories.
