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Salient Features of Legal Service Authority

Act, 1987

Introduction

Justice - social, economic and political - is our constitutional pledge enshrined in thePreamble of our Constitution. The incorporation of Article 39-A in the Directive

Principles of tate Polic! in the !ear "9#$, en%oined upon the tate to ensure %ustice

on the basis of e&ual opportunit! b! providing free legal aid. 'n 'ndia, concern for

legal aid to the poor and to the need! is continuousl! on the rise. (egal assistance

and free legal advice is the onl! )a! to guarantee e&ual protection of la) to the

poor. 'n a developing countr! li*e 'ndia )here a ma%orit! of the population is unable

to protect its interests, it is the dut! of the tate to enable the poor to secure their

legal rights. The courts are used b! the access to the %ustice s!stem. Added to this

is the fact that our %udiciar! is over)or*ed. This aspect is increasingl! being a point

of concern.

Dela! in disposal of cases b! the %udiciar! further increases the cost of litigation.

Alternate Dispute +edressal mechanisms are therefore being emphasied upon. The

fact of the matter is that mere eistence of la)s does not guarantee the en%o!ment

of those rights b! the citiens. ree legal aid s!stem is a step to)ards enforcement

of those rights. The (egal ervices Authorities Act, "9/# provided the statutor!

support in this direction. 't also sought to provide a uniform pattern to these legal

services all over 'ndia. 't came into e0ect from 9th 1ovember "992.

Reasons for Implementing LSA Act in India

I !onstitutional !ommitment" ur Constitution )hich is )edded todemocrac!, socialism, secularism, e&ualit! of status and e&ual protection of

la)s, legal aid for )ea*er sections is a social obligation and constitutional

mandate. 't is, therefore, essential to provide legal advice and representation

to all those, threatened as to their life, libert!, propert! or reputation, )ho are

not able to pa! for it.II Lac# of legal a$areness" 'n 'ndia, a large number of people are illiterate.

The! do not understand la)s. 'gnorance about la)s drags them to)ards legal

troubles for man! a time as

the! are unable to anticipate and prevent the occurrence of legal problems. 't

remains the dut! of the government to render free legal service to thepeople.

'''. Legal consultation is e%pensive" ince common people do not understand

la)s and legal proceedings, the! need to consult legal eperts. 'gnorance of

the poor people enables the la)!ers to charge fees as the! )ish. (o) level of

legal a)areness also impedes access to %ustice.


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'4. &elay in disposal of cases5 'ncreasing bac*log and dela! in disposal of

cases has become a genuine problem. The more time it ta*es, more is the

cost of litigation.4. Legislative Attempt" igni6cant thrust in this direction came in seventies

and eighties )hen civil rights and civil liberties became a matter of ma%or

concern in 'ndia. The miseries of people entangled in legal process,deprivation of personal liberties and in%ustices meted out to the people in %ails

and loc*ups made the demand for civil liberties so po)erful that it could not

be ignored an! longer.'I (udicial !ontri)ution" 'n "9#9, the upreme Court in Hussainara Khatoon

v. State of Bihar AIR 1979 SC 1360 held that free legal aid is implicit in

the guarantee of Article 7" and Article "8. T)o !ears later in Khatri v. State

of Bihar AIR 1981 SC 928)hile referring to ape courts mandate in the

:ussainara ;hatoon case reiterated that the tate cannot deprive its citiens

their constitutional rights on grounds of lac* of funds or povert!.

*ain Features of LSA Act, 1987

'. +o provide speedy (ustice at no !ost" As discussed above 'n 'ndia the

%udicial s!stem 'n 'ndia is as such its not easil! to all especiall! to the )ea*er

section of the societ! therefore to ensure that the! should not b deprived of

their basic right of %ustice the act )as enacted.''. Saving from the Lengthy !ourt rocedure"The evolution of AD+ in 'ndia

)as necessitated because of the huge amount of pendenc! of cases )here

the %ustice some)here ceases to be denied co of the dela! in the %udicial

process.'''. Solving the ro)lem of -ac#log of cases"Due to the heav! pendenc! of

cases there appeared dearth of %ustice in the %udicial process the s!stem of(o* Adalat, )hich is an innovative mechanism for alternate dispute

resolution, has proved e0ective for resolving disputes in a spirit of conciliation

outside the Courts. The lo* Adalats has been described in Chapter 4' of (A

Act from section "9-77 in )hich the organiation, po)ers and a)ards given

b! such adalats are described.'4. rescri)es the !riteria for Legal Services5


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or industrial disaster? or

=f> an industrial )or*man? or

=g> in custod!, including custod! in a protective home )ithin the meaning of

clause =g> of section 7 of the 'mmoral Tra@c =Prevention> Act, "92$, or in a

Juvenile home )ithin the meaning of clause =%> of section 7 of the Juvenile

Justice Act, "9/$, or in a ps!chiatric hospital or ps!chiatric nursing home)ithin the meaning clause =g> of section 7 of the ental :ealth Act, "9/#? or

=h> in receipt of annual income less than rupees nine thousand or such other

higher amount as ma! be prescribed b! the tate overnment, if the case is

before a court other than the upreme Court, and less than rupees t)elve

thousand or such other higher amount as ma! be prescribed b! the Central

overnment, if the case is before the upreme Court.

4. rovisions for Legal Service Authorities"There are three Authorities as

contemplated b! the (egal ervice Authorities Act, "9/#. The! are 1ational

(egal ervices Authorit! =C:APT+ ''

ection 3>, tate (egal ervices Authorit! =C:APT+ ''' ection $>, and District

(egal ervices Authorit! =ection 9>.

='>1A(A being the Central Authorit! is ordained to la! do)n the policies andprinciples to be implemented for )hole of the countr!. 1A(A has to

coordinate the activities of the tate (egal ervices Authorities for leading to

the ultimate ob%ective envisioned in Articles "8, 7", E 39-A of the Constitution

of 'ndia.

=''>'t is the dut! of the tate Authorit! to give e0ect to the polic! anddirections of the Central Authorit!. Providing legal service to persons

mentioned under ec."7, to settle the disputes pre litigation stage conduct

(o* Adalats, to plan and organie legal aid programmes are the 6inctionsamong others.

='''>'t is the dut! of ever! district authorit! to perform such functions of thestate authorit! in the district as the! ma! be delegated to it from time to

time. Co-ordinate the activities of the Talu* (egal ervices Committee and

other legal service in the District, to organie (o* Adalats are some of the

functions of the authorit!.'I roviding legal aid and assistance" Section 1/of the act de6nes about

the entitlement of legal services. According to the act, Persons )ho satisf! or

an! of the criteria speci6ed in section "7 shall be entitled to receive legal

services provided that the concerned Authorit! is satis6ed that such person

has a prima-facie case to prosecute or to defend. An a@davit made b! a

person as to his income ma! be regarded as su@cient for ma*ing him eligible

to the entitlement of legal services under this Act unless the concerned

Authorit! has reason to disbelieve such a@davit.'II 0rganiation of Lo# Adalat" ec."9-77 of (egal ervices Authorities Act

"9/# tal*s about the (; Adalats , (A also provides for establishment of

permanent and continuous (o* Adalats in all districts for disposal of pending


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matters, disputes at the pre-litigative stage and also establish permanent and

continuous (o* Adalats for overnment Departments, tatutor! Authorities

and Public ector for speed! disposal of the pending cases, disputes at the

pre-litigative stage.

4'''. Reference of !ases referred to Lo# Adalat" ection "9=2> de6nes thereference of cases to lo* adalat )hich states that A (o* Adalat shall have

%urisdiction to determine and to arrive at a compromise or settlement

bet)een the parties to a dispute in respect of-- =i> an! case pending before?

or =ii> an! matter )hich is falling )ithin the %urisdiction of and is not brought

before, an! court for )hich the (o* Adalat is organied5 Provided that the (o*

Adalat shall have no %urisdiction in respect of an! case or matter relating to

an o0ence not compoundable under an! la).'F. 2sta)lishment of ermanent Lo# Adalat" +he (egal ervices Authorities

Act, "9/# )as amended to set up Permanent (o* Adalat for providing

compulsor! pre-litigative mechanism for conciliation and ettlement of cases

relating to public utilit! services.7" ection 77A G 77 deals )ith the

provisions related to the permanent lo* adalat

=a>The P(As eercise %urisdiction in respect of one or more Public

=b> the Permanent (o* Adalat shall not have %urisdiction in respect of an!

matter relating to an o0ence not compoundable under an! la).

=c> The pecuniar! %urisdiction of P(As shall be up to +upees 72(a*h. :o)ever,

the central government can increase this from time to time.

=d> The Permanent (o* Adalat shall, )hile conducting conciliation proceedings

or deciding a dispute on merit under this Act, be guided b! the principles ofnatural %ustice, ob%ectivit!, fair pla!, e&uit! and other principles of %ustice, and

shall not be bound b! the Code of Civil Procedure, "9H/=" of "/#7> and the

'ndian vidence Act, "/#7=2 of "9H/>.

=e> ver! a)ard of the Permanent (o* Adalat under this Act made either on

merit or in terms of a settlement agreement shall be 6nal and binding on all

the parties thereto and on persons claiming under them and shall be deemed

to be a decree of a civil court.F. Services of Lo# Adalat" ome of the bene6ts that litigants derive b! tal*ing

their disputes to such (o* Adalats are5

i> Parties dont have to pa! an! court fees and if the case is alread! 6led in

the regular court.

ii> There is no stnict application of procedural la)s =such as the Civil

Procedure Code, "/$H and the vidence Act, "/#7> before the (o* Adalat

iii> The litigant )ill be getting speed! disposal in the process of (o* Adalat

iv> Disputes can be referred to the (o* Adalat directl! instead of approaching

a regular court 6rst?

v> Parties are free to voluntaril! compromise or settle through the process of


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Igive and ta*eI.

vi> The decision of (o* Adalat is binding on the parties to the dispute.

vii> 1o appeal can lie against the (o* Adalats order. The reason for this is that

unli*e a regular court )hose 6nal decision is based on appreciation of

evidence, in a (o* Adalat the decision is mutual arrived at b! both parties to

the dispute. As the decision in the (o* Adalat is not imposed upon b! a thirdagenc!, a case for appeal )ill not arise and is thus not allo)ed.

viii> ver! (o* Adalat shall, )hile determining an! reference, act )ith utmost

epedition to arrive at a compromise or settlement bet)een the parties and

shall be guided b! the principles of %ustice, e&uit! fair pla! and other legal

principles.

(udicial +rend" 'ndian Judiciar! made a d!namic interpretation of the provisions of

(egal

ervices Authorities Act in the right contet of our socio-economic milieu to

enlarge and epand the concept of legal aid.

State of *aharashtra v *anu)hai raga3i 'ashi AIR 1994 S! 1 5 The

crucial )ords in the statute are Ithe obligation of the state to provide free

legal aid b! suitable legislation or b! schemes or in an! other )a! so that

opportunities for securing %ustice is not denied to an! citien b! reason of

economic or other disabilitiesI.

5ishore !hand v State of 6imachal radesh, 199 !ri L( ..89"Though

Article 39A of the Constitution provides fundamental rights to e&ual %ustice

and free legal aid and though the tate provides amicus curiae to defend the

indigent accused, he )ould be meted out )ith une&ual defence, if as in

common *no)ledge the !oungster from the ar )ho has either a littleeperience or no eperience is assigned to defend in.

Ra3eshree)en &hannendra)hai atadia v State of u3arat, .. !ri

L( 0! :5 't )as the dut! of members of ar and enches to ma*e litigants

of this class =li*e )oman, etc> be made *no)n of their legal right under the

(egal ervices Authorities Act. And so on

!onclusion

The assumption of our legal s!stem is that all citiens have e&ual access to means

of legal redress. Access to inepensive and epeditious %ustice is a basic human

right. As it )as said (egal ervices start )ith three As5 A)areness, Assertivenessand availabilit! .'n practice legal services of all *inds have

gone to the highest bidders. Kealth! persons and large corporations receive the

highest &ualit! advice. The term Ithird )orldI is used in all inclusive epression for

the eploited elements of societ!, the depressed minorit! groups, the )or*ers, and

the peasants. 't also includes societ!s IdeviantsI - prisoners, mental patients,

radicals, dissenters, as )ell as the po)erless groups generall!, such as !outh,

)omen and the disabled. 'n such situation the (egal ervices Authorities Act, "9/#


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trul! and %usti6abl!, acts as the )atchdog of our benevolent s!stem of dispensing

(egal and ocial Justice as )ell as protector of the poor, deprived and do)ntrodden

sections of our societ! and thereb! ful6lling the constitutional pledge of providing

social, economic and political %ustice to all.

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