Context: Legal services institutions established under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, are tasked with the mandate of providing free legal aid to nearly 80% of India’s population. However, the actual reach remains modest.
Relevance of the topic:
Prelims: Key facts about NALSA.
Mains: Issues in India’s legal aid system.
Legal Aid System in India: Constitutional and Statutory Mandate
- Access to Justice is a fundamental right. Article 39A of the Indian Constitution mandates the State to ensure that no citizen is denied justice due to economic or other disabilities.
- To fulfill this constitutional vision, the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 established a framework to deliver free legal aid to the weaker and vulnerable sections of society. The Act establishes a three-tier structure of legal services institutions:
- National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) at the National level
- State Legal Services Authorities (SLSAs) at the State level
- District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) at the District level
Who is Entitled to Free Legal Aid?
- Under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, the following categories of persons are eligible for free legal aid in India:
- Women and Children
- All members of SC and ST communities
- Victims of Trafficking or Begging
- Persons in Custody: Includes undertrials, prisoners, and persons in psychiatric institutions
- Persons with Disabilities
- Industrial Workmen
- Victims of Natural Disasters or Mass Disasters
- Persons with an Annual Income below a Prescribed Limit: Income threshold varies by State (generally ₹1 lakh to ₹3 lakh per annum)
- HIV/AIDS Patients
- Services include: Legal advice, representation in court, mediation, and legal awareness.
Institutional Framework:
- Legal services institutions operate front offices in court complexes and legal aid clinics in rural and remote areas, serving as first points of contact for legal advice and guidance.
- A panel of qualified and trained lawyers is empanelled to provide free legal representation to eligible beneficiaries.
- The Act promotes the deployment of trained para-legal volunteers to spread legal awareness and assist in dispute resolution at the grassroots level.
- The Act empowers legal services authorities to organise Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes. Also promotes mediation and conciliation as part of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR).
- Regular legal literacy camps, awareness drives, and training programmes are mandated to educate citizens about their rights and remedies.
The Performance Gap:
However, the implementation and impact remain modest, exposing a critical gap between policy intent and on-ground realities.
- Between April 2023 and March 2024, only 15.5 lakh individuals accessed legal aid, even though nearly 80% of India’s population is eligible.
- Since 2019, the national per capita spending on legal aid has doubled from roughly ₹3 to ₹7.
Key Challenges in Legal Aid System
Low Budget and Underutilisation of Funds:
- The budget for legal aid comprises less than 1% of the total justice budget (police, prisons, judiciary, and legal aid).
- During 2017-18 to 2022-23, NALSA’s funds fell from ₹207 crore to ₹169 crore. The utilisation of NALSA funds has dropped from 75% to 59%.
Rigid Expenditure Guidelines:
- As per the NALSA Manual 2023, the State Legal Services Authorities (SLSAs) have been barred from incurring expenditure from the NALSA fund on certain items without prior approval. These include:
- hiring project or front office staff
- purchasing or hiring vehicles and equipment
- engaging outsourced personnel
- expenses related to victim compensation
- food distribution, and tree plantation.
- Funds are to be used only for specific functions with ceilings: 50% for legal aid and advice, 25% for awareness and outreach, and 25% for Alternate Dispute Resolution and mediation.
Declining Para-Legal Volunteers:
- Low budgets constrict the ability to deploy para-legal volunteers (PLVs) on the ground. The total number of para-legal volunteers dropped by nearly 38% between 2019 and 2024. From 5.7 per lakh population, there were only 3.1 per lakh population in 2023.
- Reluctance of States to revise honorariums for para-legal volunteers. Most PLVs receive honorarium far below minimum wages (as less as ₹250 per day in certain states). Poor pay leads to high attrition rate among PLVs, who form the backbone of last-mile legal access.
Implementation Challenges in the Legal Aid Defence Counsel (LADC) Scheme:
- Introduced in 2022, the LADC scheme is a dedicated legal aid initiative for representing only accused persons, based on the public defender model. It aims to ensure quality legal representation for accused/convicts and reduce the burden on the assigned counsel system.
- In 2023-23, ₹200 crore was specially earmarked for LADCs by NALSA and it was fully utilised. However, in 2024-25, the allocation has dropped to ₹147.9 crore.
Way Forward
- Financial Reforms:
- Increase budgetary allocation, especially for frontline workers.
- Remove fund utilisation bottlenecks- allow flexibility to SLSAs and DLSAs.
- Ensure uniform and fair honorariums for PLVs.
- Human Resources: Recruit and retain more para-legal volunteers and legal aid lawyers. Upgrade training and monitoring mechanisms for better outcomes.
- Infrastructure: Expand Legal Aid Clinics, especially in rural areas. Ensure tech-based legal access via mobile apps, kiosks, or tele-law.
- Monitoring & Accountability: Introduce independent audits and feedback mechanisms. Regularly assess impact and outcomes, not just inputs.
It is essential to boost the capacity of legal aid systems to make them truly effective. Without these resources, the system falls short of providing the quality of justice enshrined in the Constitution.