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PREVENTIVE AND STRATEGIC
LEGAL AID PROGRAMMES
Equal access to Justice is a cherished
ideal of our Constitution. It has to be made a reality by giving
inexpensive justice to people and providing legal aid to those who
cannot seek justice due to economic deprivation and social
backwardness by making people aware of the availability of legal aid
and generating legal awareness among them and by improving legal
literacy of the disadvantaged sections of society and empowering
them to seek justice. Right to legal aid has been specifically
recognized as being a part of the fundamental right to life and
liberty enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
In view of enactment of the Legal
Services Authorities Act, 1987 and reiterating of the entitlement
for legal aid and advice in various other enactments dealing with
social justice for example the Mental Health Act, 1987, the
Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
1989 and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
the state is now under a statutory obligation to make available
“legal service” which includes “rendering of any service in the
conduct of any case or other legal proceedings”.
(a) Legal Aid Counsel for
remand hours
According to Section 12(g) of the
Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 (as amended in 1994), any
person in custody, including custody in a protective home or in
juvenile home or in psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing
home, is entitled to legal services for filing or defending a case.
A large number of under-trial prisoners who are not in a position to
engage lawyers for defending them, feel handicapped in their defence
and remain incarcerated for long periods. Therefore the model
scheme modulated by National Legal Services Authority has been
implemented by Haryana State Legal Services Authority in all the
districts and sub-divisions of Haryana so that nobody remains
unrepresented at the time of remand hour. During the period from
1.4.2008 to 31.3.2009 number of the Advocates empanelled under the
‘Legal Aid Counsel’ scheme attended the courts during the remand
hours as deputed by District Legal Services Authorities and
Sub-Divisional Legal Services Committees for representing
under-trial prisoners, giving legal advise to them and filing their
applications.
(b) Permanent Legal Aid
Clinics/Legal Aid Cells in Jail
Haryana State Legal Services Authority
has established Permanent Legal Aid Clinics/Centres in all the
Jails/Sub Jails of Haryana. One of the Advocates empanelled under
the ‘Legal Aid Counsel’ scheme regularly visited Central/District
Jails/Sub Jails at specified intervals as deputed by District Legal
Services Authorities and Sub-Divisional Legal Services Committees
for giving legal advise to the accused/convicts if the need be and
collecting their applications/representations, if any and to submit
the same to the concerned courts on the next working day.
(c) Permanent Legal Aid
Clinics in Courts
Permanent Legal Aid Clinics have been
set up in Judicial Courts Complexes in all the districts, National
Institute of Law, Faridabad, Chotu Ram College, Hissar, Aggarwal
Sabha Hall, Aggarwal Chowk, Kaithal, Law Department, Kurukshetra and
Gurudwara Nada Sahib, Panchkula. The Legal Aid Counsel/Social
workers attended the Permanent Legal Aid Clinics on the scheduled
dates for providing legal aid to the litigants/members visiting
these Permanent Legal Aid Clinics.
(d) Permanent Legal Aid
Clinics in Villages
Permanent Legal Aid Clinics have been
established in a number of villages of Haryana, where empanelled
Advocates of District Legal Services Authorities and Sub-Divisional
Legal Services Committees are visiting on rotational basis for
giving legal advice to the villagers about their legal problems.
(e) Legal Aid at State
Expenses
Section 12 of the Legal Services
Authorities Act, 1987 read with rule 19 of the Haryana State Legal
Services authority Rules, 1996 specifies the persons eligible for
free legal aid at State expenses.
Every
accused unable to engage a lawyer due to poverty, or incommunicado
situation is entitled to free legal service at the cost of the
State. The entitlement to free legal aid is not dependent on the
accused making an application before the Magistrate/Sessions Judge
who is bound to inform the accused of his right to obtain free legal
aid and to provide legal aid except when the accused is not willing
to take advantage of the free legal services provided by the State.
The provisions of Section 304 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1973 have been made applicable to Magisterial Trials vide Haryana
Government Notification No. 20/5/78-JJ(4) dated 1.6.1983. The
persons benefitted under the Legal Services Programmes during the
period form 1996 to January, 2010 are shown below:-
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