Delhi has taken the lead to be the first in the country to set up a legal assistance establishment (lAE), a one stop point for providing legal aid services to poor and marginalised sections of the society who seek legal assistance to fight Court cases and settle disputes.
Supreme Court judge, Justice Dipak Misra, who is also the Executive Chairman of National legal Services Authority of India, inaugurated the lAE building at the Delhi legal Services Authority (DlSA) last week. Having conceptualised the lAE for all State legal Service Authorities (SlSA) in the coming years, Justice Mishra informed that after Delhi, Jharkhand will be next to establish lAE, expected to start by mid-June this year.
Explaining the benefits of lAE, Justice Misra, who spoke at the inaugural event attended by Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Justice Gita Mittal and other judges of Delhi HC, said, “Whenever a legal aid seeker went to the SlSA, he was either asked to approach the District lSA or any other forum. With the introduction of lAE, endeavour has been been to connect a person at Patiala House with District lSA at Courts of Saket, Rohini, Karkardooma or even the panel lawyers in these Courts.”
At these centres, information will be provided about the case status pending before any of the District Courts, legal advice from the panel lawyer, and information about various schemes introduced by NAlSA, SlSA. In addition, the facility of video-conferencing at these lAEs would help an under-trial in jail
to connect and brief his counsel who has been engaged to fight his case by the legal aid authority.
These centres will also cater to marginalised sections of society, particularly women in distress, children, senior citizens, SC/STs or other social and economically backward classes, by making them aware of their legal rights and benefits of legal assistance introduced by State or Central Government, from time to time. Due to the role the lAE would play in providing meaningful and timely legal assistance to persons in distress, they will be called ‘Nyaya Sanyog’ and will have a helpline no 1516 for people to directly call and get assistance.