The Yogi Adityanath government has implemented the Legal Aid Defence Counsel System (LADCS), under the Uttar Pradesh State Legal Services Authority, for a period of two years to provide free legal assistance to the people and resolve disputes among them by working out a compromise formula.

The objective of the government behind implementing LADCS is to strengthen court-based legal services in order to provide effective and competent legal assistance to the weak and vulnerable sections of society.

“Through the LADCS system, legal assistance will be provided to the general public at the levels of chief, deputy and assistant counsels,” a government spokesman said.

He said LADCS would provide qualitative and competent legal services to eligible individuals in criminal cases. This could benefit members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and those who have been affected by illegal acts of individuals could directly benefit from it.

LADCS will benefit numerous individuals including women, daughters, and children who are victims in the state, individuals affected by disabilities such as blindness, leprosy, deafness, mental weakness, and nomadic individuals, industrial workers, juvenile delinquents and persons detained in custody.

Additionally, the beneficiaries will also include individuals affected by calamities, caste violence, class-based discrimination, floods, droughts, earthquakes, or industrial disasters, mentally-ill individuals admitted to a safe house, mental hospital or nursing home and individuals with an annual income of less than Rs 3 lakh.

Besides, it allows providing legal advice and assistance to persons appearing in the district court/office for their defence, to persons in the pre-arrest stage under the NALSA scheme and for post-arrest, bail, trial and filing of appeals in criminal cases at the remand stage.