By Keerti Tawar
“Government alone will never be able to do it. it is only the people themselves who must utilize law for the purpose of bringing justice at the doorstep of the large masses of the people of the country.”
-Justice PN Bhagwati
The author in this article is going to do critical analyses on the “Legal Aid and Advice (Amendment) Bill of 2015.” Moreover, this article also answers for the questions like what is the need for legal aid and the importance of its in our constitution. The core object of legal aid for our society. Additionally, we will see in article all the land mark case laws which had produce the very concept of free legal aid and advice in our country. At the end of this article the author is going give their suggestion and conclusion on the topic.
HISTORY OF LEGAL AID
To begin with, the concept of legal aid is the need for our society especially for a section of a society which is poor and needy these people simply cannot afford to fight for their rights in court of law. This concept of legal aid provides free legal assistance to them. According to the principle of natural justice every person has a right to be heard in court of law, it symbolizes fairness and equality among all the citizens.
It will be a no just state if the justice is only available to the privileged class of people. If every citizen is treated equally and justice is available to all then this is how harmony and peace could be maintained in the welfare society.
If we go back in 1970s there was no such concept of free legal in our country. It was the Bombay legal society which has proposed the concept of free legal aid to the poor and needy persons. Later on a committee was setup under the chairmanship of PN Bhagwat that is the committee on legal aid and legal advice in Bombay. Finally, it was concluded that it is basic right of the needy person to get access to justice.[1] Hence, the parliament introduced legal service authority act, 1987.
Our Constitution
Legal Aid provision in our constitution was introduced by the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976. Wherein, a provision was inserted under the Article 39 A in the Directive principles of State Policy for providing free legal aid to the poor section and the weaker part of our society.
This Article clearly says that it is the duty of the state to give justice to all. Furthermore, their financial status or other disability cannot be a reason to not give them access to the justice. It is a very essence of Article 14, that every citizen shall be treated equally that is equality before law and equal protection law.
LEGAL AID AND ADVICE(AMENDMENT) BILL, 2015
The very need was felt to the parliament because in our country most of the people are not aware of their basic rights which is enshrine in our constitution. Also, the weaker section and illiterate people simply cannot afford to represent themselves in court of law and get justice for themselves whenever their rights get violated. The free legal aid becomes important for these people to get access to the justice and represent themselves in court of law.
The National legal service Authority[2] which was formed under the legal service authority act of 1987 which renders free legal services to the needy and illiterate person. Moreover, it also organizes Lok Adalat for settlement of any disputes in matter of civil.
Land mark case laws
In Hussainara Khatoon vs. State of Bihar[3] it is one of the leading case which highlighted the importance of access to justice, the facts of this case was like this there were many men, who were arrested for trivial offences. They kept in prison for many years without giving any chance to be heard in court and some of them was not even charged for any offence. It happened because they were illiterate and financially unable to afford the justice Hence, the court looked into the matter said to immediately release them and highlighted the importance of free legal aid.
Khatri vs State of Bihar[4] the court in this case held that it is duty of the state to give legal aid to the person who is unable to represent himself. it arises as he first appears in front magistrate and continue till his trials. Also, in the case of New India Assurance Co. Ltd. Vs Gopali[5] the facts were like this, a person died in an accident and his family cannot afford to file a case against the respondent company the Apex court held that the company must pay compensation the aggrieved family and the they also granted free legal aid under Article 39A of our constitution.
Conclusion
The very idea of free legal aid is considered as one of ingredient of rule of law. The welfare state has to treat every citizen equally despite their financial status or any other differences, it is the obligation of the state to give indigence person access to legal services that too at the costs of the State. Cases like Khatri[6] highlights the importance of the principles of natural justice and rule of law , right to be heard and to have prosecutor, the atrocities which was faced by the prisoner was beyond our thinking in this case.
To be precise as many as 24 prisoners who were unable to afford legal services due to their financial conditions, was kept in jail for a very long time. It was very unfortunate and brutal when the police blinded those 24 prisoners and poured acid in their eyes. After this the court took the cognizance and gave appropriate direction to compensate those prisoners and took stringent action against Bihar police. There are many brutal case which are unheard and unseen it is just lack of care, we need to be more sensitive towards such atrocities and need to aware the ignorant so that we can bring justice to light.
The author of this article is Keerti Tawar, a fifth-year BALLB student.
[1] DLSA, “History “, at https://kamrupjudiciary.gov.in last accessed on 27th November 2020.
[2] https://nalsa.gov.in/ accessed on 11 April 2023
[3] 1979 AIR 1369
[4] 1981 SCR (2) 408 1981 SCC (1) 627
[5] Civil Appeal 5179 of 2012
[6] Khatri vs State of Bihar 1981 SCR (2) 408
This article contains the view of the author and the publisher in no way associates with the views or ideologies of the author. All the moral rights vests with the Author(s).
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