Free Legal Aid Doesn't Mean Poor Legal Aid, Must Mean Quality Service : Justice UU Lalit

Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, judge of the Supreme Court and the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority, has stressed the need to provide quality services while providing free legal aid.

"Free legal aid does not mean poor legal aid, free legal aid must mean quality service", Justice Lalit said while expressing concerns at the extremely low percentage of cases which land up with the Legal Services Authority. Referring to statistics, Justice Lalit said that the Legal Services Authority handle just 1% of the litigation.

To augment the quality of services of legal aid, Justice Lalit said that it was important to induct talented and committed persons. He pointed out that certain High Courts have a system that advocates conferred with senior designation should handle a specified number of pro-bono cases.

Justice Lalit, the second senior judge of the Supreme Court, was addressing the Judges, Lawyers and Legal services provider at the Maharashtra State Level Conference on the topic "EARLY ACCESS TO JUSTICE AT PRE-ARREST, ARREST AND REMAND STAGE" on Saturday, 26th March, 2022. The one-day programme was organised at Maharashtra Judicial Academy at Uttan under the aegis of NALSA, Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority and State Legal Services Authority, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

Justice Lalit said that a person must have the benefit of qualified legal assistance at pre-arrest, arrest and remand stage.

"At every possible stage the man must have the advantage or the benefit of qualified legal assistance. We don't provide that legal assistance, we at NALSA, SLSA, DLSA, TLSA, what do we do? We are just facilitators. We are not the ones who is going to appear for that man and present his case, we simply facilitate that mechanics, we have an apparatus and that's why one has to see this NALSA as a beautiful machinery which has been produced by the Parliament. There is no other scheme which is given in the hands of Judiciary, which is supposed to be in the interest of the society. The Judges right from top that is NALSA upto State Legal Services Authority, District Legal Services Authority or even Taluk Legal Services Committee, the entire apparatus is managed by the Judges. But management is the only part which is in our hands, execution of that, i.e. giving legal counsel, is in the hands of lawyer or is in the hands of the team of the lawyers and this is precisely why my predecessors who addressed you were stressing upon the fact that quality legal assistance, pro-bono services, senior advocates, getting inducted in the programme, that will provide you good quality assistance".

"It is true that there are methods and methods in which we can induct, we can draft that talent. Like for instance, High Courts of Punjab and Haryana and Delhi before they designate a person as a senior counsel, they look into the profile and they say, how many matters have you done pro bono? Some of the High Courts go to the extent of getting an undertaking that after your designation you shall do atleast 10 pro-bono matters every year. Now, these are modalities, and methodology that a particular High Court, may adopt, may not adopt, that is not the point, point is legal aid, free legal aid does not mean poor legal aid, free legal aid must mean quality service. If I go through this door and approach the legal aid, I must be assured that good quality assistance will be given to me, rather than if I go through the other door, where may I have to sell ornaments of my wife in order to support the litigation to be sponsored. Why do I say that? Since the basic topic is arrest, pre-arrest, remand which is pertaining to criminal law, of all the matters which are in court, only 1% of that land up with Legal Aid Services Clinics. Is that proportion correct? If we say that 70% of our people are below poverty line, then goping by the same logic, the same proportion perhaps 70% of the litigants must be those, who are below poverty line, rough and ready estimate then why is it only 1% of them land up in the legal aid services clinics", Justice Lalit said.

Introduce compulsory rural service for law students like medical students

To improve the quality of legal aid services, Justice Lalit further put forth a suggestion that law students can be asked to render compulsory legal aid services at rural areas, like the compulsory rural service condition for the medical students. He said that many youngsters have a "spark of talent" which is not matched by older professionals, and hence seniority need not be the sole criteria for induction into legal aid services.

"I have been advocating, I have actually been in touch with the Bar Council of India and I have been telling them, make it part of your curriculum at LLB level and this I said just few days back - we have courses like medicine, where after a person graduates, he gives it back to the society by serving as an internship in rural areas. Why not with legal professional? Why is it that the service of rural areas is the prerogative and preserve only of medical professionals. So we should adopt that, as a principle, when it comes to legal education. This is what I have been advocating, I have been stressing on this, with Bar Council of India persons and they have agreed, from 3rd year onwards, they will be regularly sending students, every law college will be adopting may be 2 or 3 taluks and send the law students to those nearby taluks, so that as young students, as young professional, they have first hand experience. If that exposure, so far as students are concerned is achieved, as and when they pass out, they will be your first line, who will be inducted as qualified legal professionals, who can take charge of, or who can take care of, what is your legal aid services programmes. And thereby you will be ensuring, the third rung that is the legally qualified persons are of good quality. These are various facets, induct people on pro bono, increase remuneration, have good quality persons. I am not so touchy, about the fact that only senior persons must be give the charge. I have seen spark of talent even in youngsters and those youngsters do tremendous amount of work with so much of zeal, that perhaps I think that may not be matched by some of the older persons in the profession. So seniority, is not the only determining criteria"

Lack of awareness about legal aid

Justice Lalit also said that one of the reasons for the low percentage of cases handled by the legal services authorities could be the lack of awareness among the marginalised sections about the awareness of legal aid mechanisms.

To remedy this situation, he suggested that every FIR should have details of the nearest legal aid services clinic. Also, every police station must have a board giving information about the availability of legal aid services.

Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Dipankar Dutta, Bombay High Court judges Justice SS Shinde(Executive Chairman, SALSA, Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu), Justice AA Syed(Executive Chairman, MSLSA), Justice RD Dhanuka(Officiating Director, MJA), Justice AS Gadkari and Justice SV Kotwal also participated in the session.