# Suhas Chakma v. Union of India & Ors

- **Citation:** 2024 INSC 813
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 2024-10-23
- **Case number:** Writ Petition No. 1082 of 2020
- **Bench:** B.R. Gavai, K.V. Viswanathan
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/suhas-chakma-v-union-of-india-ors-37280
- **Pages:** 33

## Headnote

Access to free and timely legal aid for prison inmates.
Headnotes†
Free Legal Aid - Constitutional and Statutory Framework -
Constitution of India - Articles 21, 39-A - Equal justice and
free legal aid - Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 - ss.3,
4, 6, 9, 12-15 - Policies and Schemes by NALSA for making
legal services available, creating awareness about convict's
right of appeal, availability of free legal services - Standard
Operating Procedures (SOP) by NALSA on Access to Legal
Aid Services to Prisoners and Functioning of the Prison Legal
Aid Clinics 2022 (SOP-2022); SOP For (Under Trial Review
Committees (UTRCs); Introduction of the Legal Aid Defense
Counsel System; Special Campaigns for prisoners to ensure
timely access to justice; Awareness measures; Compilation,
Translation of Documents; Pre-Litigation Assistance; E-Prison
Module/E-kiosks in Prisons for effective monitoring of cases,
access to case updates - Elucidated - Work done by NALSA,
SLSAs and DLSAs praised - Directions issued:
Held: NALSA with SLSAs and DLSAs, to ensure efficient
implementation and periodic updates of the SOP-2022 - Legal
Services Authorities to strengthen the monitoring of PLACs and
periodically review their functioning - Legal Services Authorities
will periodically update and address shortcomings; ensure full
implementation of Legal Aid Defence Counsel System; periodically
review and update SOP-2022 for the UTRC - Awareness crucial
for legal aid mechanism; robust, regularly updated mechanism to
be in place by following measures such as boards with legal aid
contact details be displayed at public places like police stations,
bus stands, railway stations etc. both in local language and English;
* Author
1770
[2024] 10 S.C.R.
Digital Supreme Court Reports
Promotional campaigns through local radio, AIR, TV, and digitally
by mentioning on websites of the legal services authority; street
plays in rural areas - Addressing gap between number of persons
identified by UTRC and those recommended for release; number of
prisoners recommended for release and number of bail applications
and taking adequate corrective measures - NALSA's "Early Access
to Justice at Pre-arrest, Arrest and Remand Stage Framework"
for pre-litigation assistance should be diligently pursued and
periodically reviewed - Legal Service Authorities should periodically
interact with convicts who had not filed appeals and inform them of
their right to free legal aid - Periodic interactions with Jail Visiting
Lawyers (JVLs) and Para Legal Volunteers (PLVs) will ensure
updation of their knowledge for efficient system functioning - Legal
Services Authorities should ensure ongoing education for lawyers
involved in pre-litigation assistance and those associated with
the Legal Aid Defence Counsel System - DLSAs should submit
periodic reports to the SLSAs and the SLSAs to the NALSA and
NALSA should digitize the process for real time updates - Union
Govt. and State Govts. will continue to support Legal Services
Authorities for the effective implementation of measures - High
Courts may consider issuing a practice direction that all courts
including the High Court may attach a coversheet to the copy of
the judgments and notices issued to the respondents in appeals
against acquittal, informing the convict about free legal aid for
higher remedies with address and phone number of the legal aid
committee - High Courts may display information about the legal
aid facilities available in the State on their website. [Para 34]

## Text

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[2024] 10 S.C.R. 1769 : 2024 INSC 813
Suhas Chakma
v.
Union of India & Ors.
(Writ Petition (C) No. 1082 of 2020)
23 October 2024
[B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan,* JJ.]
Issue for Consideration
Access to free and timely legal aid for prison inmates.
Headnotes†
Free Legal Aid - Constitutional and Statutory Framework -
Constitution of India - Articles 21, 39-A - Equal justice and
free legal aid - Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 - ss.3,
4, 6, 9, 12-15 - Policies and Schemes by NALSA for making
legal services available, creating awareness about convict's
right of appeal, availability of free legal services - Standard
Operating Procedures (SOP) by NALSA on Access to Legal
Aid Services to Prisoners and Functioning of the Prison Legal
Aid Clinics 2022 (SOP-2022); SOP For (Under Trial Review
Committees (UTRCs); Introduction of the Legal Aid Defense
Counsel System; Special Campaigns for prisoners to ensure
timely access to justice; Awareness measures; Compilation,
Translation of Documents; Pre-Litigation Assistance; E-Prison
Module/E-kiosks in Prisons for effective monitoring of cases,
access to case updates - Elucidated - Work done by NALSA,
SLSAs and DLSAs praised - Directions issued:
Held: NALSA with SLSAs and DLSAs, to ensure efficient
implementation and periodic updates of the SOP-2022 - Legal
Services Authorities to strengthen the monitoring of PLACs and
periodically review their functioning - Legal Services Authorities
will periodically update and address shortcomings; ensure full
implementation of Legal Aid Defence Counsel System; periodically
review and update SOP-2022 for the UTRC - Awareness crucial
for legal aid mechanism; robust, regularly updated mechanism to
be in place by following measures such as boards with legal aid
contact details be displayed at public places like police stations,
bus stands, railway stations etc. both in local language and English;
* Author
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Digital Supreme Court Reports
Promotional campaigns through local radio, AIR, TV, and digitally
by mentioning on websites of the legal services authority; street
plays in rural areas - Addressing gap between number of persons
identified by UTRC and those recommended for release; number of
prisoners recommended for release and number of bail applications
and taking adequate corrective measures - NALSA's "Early Access
to Justice at Pre-arrest, Arrest and Remand Stage Framework"
for pre-litigation assistance should be diligently pursued and
periodically reviewed - Legal Service Authorities should periodically
interact with convicts who had not filed appeals and inform them of
their right to free legal aid - Periodic interactions with Jail Visiting
Lawyers (JVLs) and Para Legal Volunteers (PLVs) will ensure
updation of their knowledge for efficient system functioning - Legal
Services Authorities should ensure ongoing education for lawyers
involved in pre-litigation assistance and those associated with
the Legal Aid Defence Counsel System - DLSAs should submit
periodic reports to the SLSAs and the SLSAs to the NALSA and
NALSA should digitize the process for real time updates - Union
Govt. and State Govts. will continue to support Legal Services
Authorities for the effective implementation of measures - High
Courts may consider issuing a practice direction that all courts
including the High Court may attach a coversheet to the copy of
the judgments and notices issued to the respondents in appeals
against acquittal, informing the convict about free legal aid for
higher remedies with address and phone number of the legal aid
committee - High Courts may display information about the legal
aid facilities available in the State on their website. [Para 34]
Case Law Cited
Hussainara Khatoon and Others (IV) v. Home Secretary, State of
Bihar, Patna [1979] 3 SCR 532 : (1980) 1 SCC 98; Khatri and
Others (2) v. State of Bihar and Others [1981] 3 SCR 145 : (1981)
1 SCC 627; Suk Das v. Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh
[1986] 1 SCR 590 : (1986) 2 SCC 401; Madhav Hayawadanrao
Hoskot v. State of Maharashtra [1979] 1 SCR 192 : (1978) 3
SCC 544; Sunil Batra (II) v. Delhi Administration [1980] 2 SCR
557 : (1980) 3 SCC 488; Girish Gandhi vs. State of UP [2024]
8 SCR 561 : 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2142; Sanjit Saha vs. State
of West Bengal [2023] 15 SCR 83 : 2023 INSC 1085; Ramu v.
State of U.P. 2024 SCC OnLine All 4618; Ramanand @ Nandlal
Bharti v. State of U.P. [2022] 5 SCR 162 : 2022 SCC Online SC
1396 - referred to.
[2024] 10 S.C.R.
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Suhas Chakma v. Union of India & Ors.
List of Acts
Constitution of India; Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987; Bhartiya
Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
List of Keywords
Articles 21, 39-A of the Constitution of India; Access to free legal
aid for prison inmates; Prisoners; Legal aid facilities; Legal aid
committee; Equal justice and free legal aid; Timely access to
justice; Legal Services Authorities; National Legal Services Authority
(NALSA); State Legal Services Authorities (SLSAs); District Legal
Services Authorities (DLSAs); Creating awareness about availability
of free legal services; Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
by NALSA on Access to Legal Aid Services to Prisoners and
Functioning of the Prison Legal Aid Clinics 2022 (SOP-2022); SOP
For (Under Trial Review Committees (UTRCs); Legal Aid Defense
Counsel System; Special Campaigns for prisoners; Awareness
measures; Compilation, Translation of Documents; Pre-Litigation
Assistance; E-Prison Module/E-kiosks; Promotional campaigns;
Legal aid mechanism; Legal Aid Defence Counsel Dystem; Jail
Visiting Lawyers (JVLs); Para Legal Volunteers (PLVs); Legal
awareness camps; Prison Legal Aid Clinics (PLACs); Jail appeals;
Higher remedies; Appeals; Appellate rights of the convicts; Right
of appeal; Facility available for availing free legal services.
Case Arising From
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition No. 1082 of 2020
(Under Article 32 of The Constitution of India)
Appearances for Parties
Vijay Hansaria, K. Parameshwar, Sr. Advs./Amicus Curiae,
Ms. Kavya Jhawar, Ms. Nandini Rai, Ms. Kanti, Ms. Raji Gururaj,
Shreenivas Patil, Ms. Chitransha Singh Sikarwar, Anuj Kapoor,
Satish Pandey, Advs. for the Petitioner.
Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General, Suryaprakash V Raju,
Mrs. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.Gs., Mrs. Garima Prasad, Sr. A.A.G.,
Shiv Mangal Sharma, Dr. Hemant Gupta, A.A.Gs., Praneet Pranav,
D.A.G., Nalin Kohli, Sr. Adv., Rajan K Chourasia, Kanu Agrawal,
Raghav Sharma, Ms. Priyanka Terdal, Arvind Kumar Sharma,
Ms. Prerna Singh, Guntur Pramod Kumar, Dhruv Yadav, Gautam
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Bhatia, Abhimanyu Tewari, Ms. Eliza Bar, Shuvodeep Roy,
Deepayan Dutta, Saurabh Tripathi, Ms. Nimisha Menon, Anshul
Malik, Ms. Shruti Agrawal, Ayuushman Aroraa, Abhishek Pandey,
Prashant Kumar Umrao, Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, Ms. Devyani Bhatt,
Ms. Neha Singh, Akshay Girish Ringe, Ms. Inderdeep Kaur
Raina, Kartikeya Rastogi, Nishe Rajen Shonker, Mrs. Anu K Joy,
Alim Anvar, Ajith Anto Perumbully, Parth Awasthi, Pashupathi
Nath Razdan, Kshitiz Singh, Anand Dilip Landge, Siddharth
Dharmadhikari, Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, Pukhrambam Ramesh
Kumar, Karun Sharma, Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Ms. Rajkumari
Divyasana, Anando Mukherjee, Shwetank Singh, Milind Kumar,
Saurabh Rajpal, Ms. Saubhagya Sundnriyal, Sameer Abhyankar,
Ayushi Bansal, Aakash Thakur, Aryan Srivastava, Rahul Kumar,
Sarthak Dora, Sabarish Subramanian, Vishnu Unnikrishnan,
C. Kranthi Kumar, Sarathraj B, Danish Saifi, Ms. Aswani Satheesh,
Pradeep Misra, Daleep Dhyani, Sanjay Jain, Suraj Singh, Manan
Verma, Ms. Ayushi Hatwal, Sanjeev Kaushik, Ms. Astha Sharma,
Simranjeet Singh Rekhi, Tadimalla Bhaskar Gowtham, Bhuvan
Kapoor, Varun Chugh, Krishna Kant Dubey, Shreekant Neelappa
Terdal, Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Ketan Paul, Mayank Pandey,
Ms. Shivika Mehra, Ishaan Sharma, Sarthak Karol, Ms. Astha
Singh, Jagdish Chandra Solanki, Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar,
Ms. Yashmita Pandey, Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, Amit Kumar Singh,
Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Prang Newmai, Shivang Jain, Varun Goel,
Advs. for the Respondents.
Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court
Judgment
K.V. Viswanathan, J.
Brief Facts:
1.
The present Writ Petition, under Article 32 of the Constitution of
India, was filed primarily for issuance an appropriate Writ, Order or
direction directing the respondents Union of India, States and the
Union Territories to ensure that no prisoner is subjected to torture,
cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment because
of living in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions in jail. It also
espouses the cause that all persons deprived of their liberty are
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entitled to be treated with humanity, and with respect for the inherent
dignity and a prayer was made for creating a permanent mechanism
to decongest the overcrowded prisons.
2.
When the Writ Petition came up for hearing on 22.04.2024, this Court
appointed Shri Vijay Hansaria, learned Senior Advocate as Amicus
Curiae. Thereafter, on 09.05.2024, Shri K. Parameshwar, learned
Senior Advocate (as Amicus Curiae) and Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar,
learned counsel for the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA)
were requested to assist the Court alongside the already appointed
Amicus Curiae. On that day Shri Vijay Hansaria, learned Amicus
Curiae tendered to Court the format of a letter to be submitted by the
Jail Visiting Lawyers (JVLs) regarding information to convicts on free
legal aid. Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, learned counsel was asked to
take instructions from NALSA in this regard. Thereafter, in its order
of 17.05.2024, broadly two issues were identified- one pertaining to
Open Correctional Institutions and the other with regard to modalities
for visitation by lawyers in jail so as to ensure free legal aid to the
deserving prison inmates. On 17.05.2024, Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar,
learned counsel informed the Court that the format of letter initially
handed over by the learned Amicus has been slightly modified in
consultation with NALSA and the said modified letter to be filled by
the JVLs were taken on record and approved.
3.
By a note submitted by learned counsel - Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar
on 15.07.2024, it was set out that the letter, as approved in the order
of 17.05.2024, was circulated by the NALSA to all the State Legal
Services Authorities (SLSAs) and a direction was issued to them to
collate the data received by JVLs and compile the information as
per the format prescribed by NALSA. Details of responses received
till 15th July, 2024 were also set out and directions were issued to
other States to file their responses. When the matter was taken up
on 09.09.2024, a detailed note dated 06.09.2024 was placed on
record by Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, learned counsel on the aspect
of access to free legal aid for the deserving prison inmates. This
judgment deals with the aspect of access to free legal aid for prison
inmates. The issue of "Open Correctional Institutions" will be heard
and considered separately by the Court.
4.
We have heard Mr. Vijay Hansaria learned Amicus Curiate and Ms.
Rashmi Nandakumar, learned counsel. We have considered the
detailed note submitted by the NALSA.
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Constitutional Goal
5.
Article 39-A of the Directive Principles of State Policy which talks of
equal justice and free legal aid reads as under:
39-A. Equal justice and free legal aid.-
The State shall secure that the operation of the legal
system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity,
and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable
legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that
opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any
citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.
Relevant Judicial Pronouncements
6.
This Court in Hussainara Khatoon and Others (IV) v. Home
Secretary, State of Bihar, Patna (1980) 1 SCC 98, held as under:
"6. .... It is not uncommon to find that undertrial prisoners
who are produced before the Magistrates are unaware of
their right to obtain release on bail and on account of their
poverty, they are unable to engage a lawyer who would
apprise them of their right to apply for bail and help them
to secure release on bail by making a proper application to
the Magistrate in that behalf. Sometimes the Magistrates
also refuse to release the undertrial prisoners produced
before them on their personal bond but insist on monetary
bail with sureties, which by reason of their poverty the
undertrial prisoners are unable to furnish and which,
therefore, effectively shuts out for them any possibility of
release from pre-trial detention...
We do not think it is possible to reach the benefits of
the legal process to the poor, to protect them against
injustice and to secure to them their constitutional and
statutory rights unless there is a nation-wide legal service
programme to provide free legal services to them. It is
now well settled, as a result of the decision of this Court in
Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India [(1978) 1 SCC 248] that
when Article 21 provides that no person shall be deprived
of his life or liberty except in accordance with the procedure
established by law, it is not enough that there should be
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some semblance of procedure provided by law, but the
procedure under which a person may be deprived of his
life or liberty should be "reasonable, fair and just". Now, a
procedure which does not make available legal services
to an accused person who is too poor to afford a lawyer
and who would, therefore, have to go through the trial
without legal assistance, cannot possibly be regarded as
"reasonable, fair and just". It is an essential ingredient of
reasonable, fair and just procedure to a prisoner who is
to seek his liberation through the court's process that he
should have legal services available to him.....
(Emphasis supplied)
Further, this Court in Khatri and Others (2) v. State of Bihar and
Others (1981) 1 SCC 627, para 6, held as under:
6. But even this right to free legal services would be
illusory for an indigent accused unless the Magistrate or
the Sessions Judge before whom he is produced informs
him of such right.
....It would make a mockery of legal aid if it were to be left
to a poor ignorant and illiterate accused to ask for free legal
services. Legal aid would become merely a paper promise
and it would fail of its purpose. The Magistrate or the
Sessions Judge before whom the accused appears must
be held to be under an obligation to inform the accused
that if he is unable to engage the services of a lawyer on
account of poverty or indigence, he is entitled to obtain
free legal services at the cost of the State. Unfortunately,
the Judicial Magistrates failed to discharge this obligation
in the case of the blinded prisoners and they merely stated
that no legal representation was asked for by the blinded
prisoners and hence none was provided. We would,
therefore, direct the Magistrates and Sessions Judges in
the country to inform every accused who appears before
them and who is not represented by a lawyer on account
of his poverty or indigence that he is entitled to free legal
services at the cost of the State. Unless he is not willing
to take advantage of the free legal services provided by
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the State, he must be provided legal representation at the
cost of the State....."
(Emphasis supplied)
7.
This Court has held that free legal assistance for poor and indigent
at the cost of the State is a fundamental right of a person under
Article 21 even if the person does not seek legal assistance on his
own. In Suk Das v. Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh (1986)
2 SCC 401, this Court held as under.-
"6. But the question is whether this fundamental right
could lawfully be denied to the appellant if he did not
apply for free legal aid. Is the exercise of this fundamental
right conditioned upon the accused applying for free legal
assistance so that if he does not make an application for
free legal assistance the trial may lawfully proceed without
adequate legal representation being afforded to him? Now
it is common knowledge that about 70 per cent of the
people living in rural areas are illiterate and even more
than that percentage of the people are not aware of the
rights conferred upon them by law. Even literate people
do not know what are their rights and entitlements under
the law. It is this absence of legal awareness which is
responsible for the deception, exploitation and deprivation
of rights and benefits from which the poor suffer in this
land. Their legal needs always stand to become crisisoriented because their ignorance prevents them from
anticipating legal troubles and approaching a lawyer for
consultation and advice in time and their poverty magnifies
the impact of the legal troubles and difficulties when they
come. Moreover, because of their ignorance and illiteracy,
they cannot become self-reliant: they cannot even help
themselves. The law ceases to be their protector because
they do not know that they are entitled to the protection of
the law and they can avail of the legal service programme
for putting an end to their exploitation and winning their
rights..."
(Emphasis supplied)
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8.
In Madhav Hayawadanrao Hoskot v. State of Maharashtra (1978) 3
SCC 544, this Court, while holding that right to counsel for a prisoner
is a fundamental right traceable to Article 21, held that procedural
safeguards are the indispensable essence of liberty. This Court held
as under:-
"14. The other ingredient of fair procedure to a prisoner,
who has to seek his liberation through the court process
is lawyer's services. Judicial justice, with procedural
intricacies, legal submissions and critical examination of
evidence, leans upon professional expertise; and a failure
of equal justice under the law is on the cards where such
supportive skill is absent for one side. Our judicature,
moulded by Anglo-American models and our judicial
process, engineered by kindred legal technology, compel
the collaboration of lawyer-power for steering the wheels
of equal justice under the law. Free legal services to the
needy is part of the English criminal justice system. And
the American jurist, Prof. Vance of Yale, sounded sense
for India too when he said: [ Justice and Reform, Earl
Johnson, Jr. p. 11]
"What does it profit a poor and ignorant man that
he is equal to his strong antagonist before the law if
there is no one to inform him what the law is? Or that
the courts are open to him on the same terms as to
all other persons when he has not the wherewithal
to pay the admission fee?"
xx xx xx
25. If a prisoner sentenced to imprisonment, is virtually
unable to exercise his constitutional and statutory right of
appeal, inclusive of special leave to appeal, for want of legal
assistance, there is implicit in the Court under Article 142,
read with Articles 21 and 39-A of the Constitution, power
to assign counsel for such imprisoned individual "for doing
complete justice". This is a necessary incident of the right
of appeal conferred by the Code and allowed by Article
136 of the Constitution. The inference is inevitable that
this is a State's duty and not Government's charity. Equally
affirmative is the implication that while legal services must
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be free to the beneficiary, the lawyer himself has to be
reasonably remunerated for his services.....
26. In the present petition, the party, though preferred legal
aid by the court, preferred to argue himself. Even so we
uphold the right to counsel not in the permissive sense of
Article 22(1) and its wider amplitude but in the peremptory
sense of Article 21 confined to prison situations.
(Emphasis supplied)
9.
In Sunil Batra (II) v. Delhi Administration. (1980) 3 SCC 488 in
Para 30 and 78(3), this Cout held as under.-
"30. We, therefore, affirm that where the rights of a
prisoner, either under the Constitution or under other law,
are violated the writ power of the court can and should
run to his rescue. There is a warrant for this vigil. The
court process casts the convict into the prison system and
the deprivation of his freedom is not a blind penitentiary
affliction but a belighted institutionalisation geared to a
social good. The court has a continuing responsibility to
ensure that the constitutional purpose of the deprivation
is not defeated by the prison administration....
78(3). Lawyers nominated by the District Magistrate,
Sessions Judge, High Court and the Supreme Court will
be given all facilities for interviews, visits and confidential
communication with prisoners subject to discipline and
security considerations. This has roots in the visitatorial
and supervisory judicial role. The lawyers so designated
shall be bound to make periodical visits and record and
report to the concerned court results which have relevance
to legal grievances."
(Emphasis supplied)
The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987
10. To give effect to the constitutional goal under Article 39-A, the Legal
Services Authorities Act, 1987 was enacted. As the preamble to the
Act sets out, the Act was to constitute legal services authorities to
provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of
society, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied
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to any citizen by reason of any economic or other disabilities. Under
Section 3 of the Act, the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA)
is constituted. Under Section 4, the functions of the NALSA are set
out and the relevant ones for the purpose of the present issue are
(a) (b) (c) and (i). They are extracted herein below.
"4. Functions of the Central Authority.-
The Central Authority shall perform all or any of the following
functions, namely:
(a) lay down policies and principles for making legal
services available under the provisions of this Act;
(b) frame the most effective and economical schemes for
the purpose of making legal services available under the
provisions of this Act;
(c) utilise the funds at its disposal and make appropriate
allocations of funds to the State Authorities and District
Authorities;
(i) monitor and evaluate implementation of the legal
aid programmes at periodic intervals and provide for
independent evaluation of programmes and schemes
implemented in whole or in part by funds provided under
this Act;"
Section 6 and 9 deal with the constitution of State Legal Services
Authority and the District Legal Services Authority respectively.
Section 12 of the Act is a significant provision. Section 12, inter
alia, sets out that every person in custody who has to file or defend
a case shall be entitled to legal services under the Act. Section 13
mandates that persons who satisfy all or any of the criteria specified
in Section 12 shall be entitled to receive legal services provided that
the concerned authority is satisfied that such persons have a prima
facie case to prosecute or to defend. Section 14 speaks of grants by
Central Government and Section 15 speaks of the National Legal Aid
Fund and the application thereof. In exercise of its power NALSA has
been periodically laying down the policies and principles for making
legal services available under the provisions of the Act and framing
schemes and providing for utilization of funds.
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NALSA-Standard Operating Procedures on Access to Legal Aid
Services to Prisoners and Functioning of the Prison Legal Aid
Clinics - 2022
11. As the note submitted by the learned counsel indicate, furtherance
of this function NALSA has formulated the SOP on access to legal
aid services to prisoners and functioning of the Prison Legal Aid
Clinics (PLACs) (hereinafter referred to as NALSA SOP-2022). The
NALSA SOP-2022 deals with (i) The setting up and functioning
of the PLACs (ii) The purpose behind establishing the PLACs
(iii) The Roles and responsibilities of different legal aid functionaries
attached with the PLACs (iv) The monitoring of PLACs by DLSAs.
(v) The process of application for legal aid and role of PLACs in
facilitating appointment of legal aid lawyer (vi) The PLACs role in
providing legal aid services and legal assistance to the vulnerable
groups in prisons; (vii) The PLACs role in providing legal information
to prisoners and their families; (viii) The PLACs role in imparting legal
knowledge to prisoners about their rights and their grievance redressal
mechanism; and (ix) The PLACs role in giving legal assistance for
filing Jail Appeals before the High Courts and the Supreme Court
by the convicts in prison.
12. As set out in the note, the NALSA SOP-2022 enumerates the following
functions of the PLACs:-
"a.
to ensure at all times that no prisoner is without
legal representation at any stage of the criminal
proceedings and to generate awareness about the
same;
b.
to bridge the information gap between the prisoner
and the Court;
c.
to facilitate communication between the prisoner and
the lawyer, whether legal aid or private;
d.
to ensure that no person is illegally or unnecessarily
detained;
e.
to ensure special needs of vulnerable groups (women,
young offenders, mentally-ill, foreign nationals,
persons from other states, etc.); in prisons are
addressed;
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f.
to collaborate with local authorities, universities,
academic institutions and civil society organizations
to further strengthen legal aid services for prisoners;
g.
to act as a One Stop Centre (OSC) to raise the
grievances of the prisoners and direct the grievances
to appropriate authorities through DLSA; and
h.
to undertake the implementation of the NALSA and
SLSA campaigns for prisoners or any other work
assigned to fulfil its mandate of providing legal aid
services and assistance to the prisoners."
13. NALSA SOP-2022 also deals with the duties of the JVLs and the
Paralegal Volunteers (PLVs). The duties of the JVLs, as set out in
the note, are as follows :-
"a) To identify cases eligible for release under the
mandate of the Undertrial Review Committee (UTRC);
b)
To interact with inmates identified by the paralegal
volunteers and provide legal advice;
c)
To draft applications and petitions for parole/juvenility/
bail etc. for the undertrials and convicts present in
the clinic;
d)
To ensure filling of legal aid application form for those
who need legal aid lawyers and submit the same to
the legal services authority, without any delay;
e)
To conduct legal awareness camps inside prisons
including apprising new entrants to prison about the
free legal services provided by Tehsil Legal Services
Committee (TSLC) or Sub-Divisional Legal Services
Committee (SDLSC), District Legal Services Authority
(DLSA), High Court Legal Services Committee
(HCLSC) and Supreme Court Legal Services
Committee (SCLSC);
f)
To regularly inform the inmates about the status of
their cases;
g)
To communicate to the defense lawyer any pertinent
information that an inmate has requested to be shared
with his/her lawyer;
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h)
To also represent the inmates in courts in some
cases, if appointed by the Legal Service Institution
but not otherwise;
i)
To prioritize and focus on personal interactions with
the inmates in the PLAC during the visit and then
document and prepare the petitions;
j)
To assist the UTRC by coordinating with the inmates
and the courts on cases eligible for release;
k)
To follow the directions given under NALSA SOP for
representing persons in custody;
l)
To bring into notice of DLSA about the concern of
inmates in respect of conditions in jail;
m)
Updating information on digital platform of legal aid
and legal aid e-prison."
The duties of the PLVs are as under:
"a) To establish/ manage Legal Aid Clinics inside prisons,
as prescribed;
b)
To take steps towards identification of prison inmates
who are in need of legal assistance. This would involve
reaching out to all prisoners whether beneficiary of
legal aid or not, especially the new entrants;
c)
To seek permission from the prison authorities to visit
the wards/enclosures of prisoners to ascertain that
no one remains unrepresented;
d)
To fill out the legal aid application form and promptly
send it to the concerned DLSA/TLSC & also ensure
that the prisoners interact with the Jail Visiting Lawyer
on his next visit to prison;
e)
To coordinate and assist the Jail Visiting Lawyers in
providing legal advice and aid;
f)
To give updates on the proceedings in a case to the
inmates;
g)
To counsel inmates and explain any legal provision
pertaining to their case. Where there are doubts, then
refer the case to the Jail Visiting Lawyer;
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h)
To receive legal aid lawyer appointment letters, replies
from legal service institutions and other authorities,
maintain record and give copies to the concerned
prisoner;
i)
To submit reports to the DLSA about the Undertrial
Review Committee on cases eligible under section
436/436A Cr.P.C.;
j)
To keep track of non-production of any inmate in the
Court as per the date given and inform the Secretary,
DLSA/SDLSC or TLCS;
k)
To assist the prison inmate in filing any complaint or
grievances relating to their stay in prison; and
l)
To send reminders/letters to the corresponding Legal
Services Authority to seek information regarding
status of case, name and contact details of the
assigned legal aid lawyer."
14. Under Para 15 of the NALSA SOP-2022, the procedure for ensuring
smooth filing of petitions of the convicts in High Courts and the
Supreme Court has been outlined as follows:
"a) As soon as the order rejecting bail or an order of
conviction is pronounced by the Court (Magistrate
Court, Sessions Court or High Court), a prisoner shall
be informed by the PLAC regarding the right to bail/
appeal/review/revision in the High Court/Supreme
Court and the process of filing the same.
b)
Steps must be taken promptly through the PLAC to
apply for appointment of lawyer by the High Court
Legal Services Committee (HCLSC) or the Supreme
Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC), as the
case may be. A record of such application must be
made in designated register/database.
c)
Where copy of judgement is not available with the
prisoner, the DLSA shall make available an extra
copy of the judgement to the prisoner to enable filing
of the petition/jail appeal.
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d)
Upon receiving a request for legal assistance, the
HCLSC/SCLSC must immediately appoint a lawyer
to the case, details of whom must be duly intimated
to the prisoner via the Prison Superintendent, as
per prescribed formats provided in the NALSA's
Handbook of Formats, 2020.
e)
Details of the lawyer appointed by the HCLSC/
SCLSC must be duly noted in the register/database
maintained at the PLAC.
f)
Regular interaction and communication between
the counsel and the client/ convict must be ensured
by SCLSC, HCLSC, DLSA and SLSA in order to
update the beneficiary as to the progress of the case.
Where the prisoners complain of lack of interaction
with lawyer assigned by HCLSC/SCLSC, the DLSA
shall intimate the same to the HCLSC/SCLSC at
the earliest.
g)
The PLV shall provide updates to the prisoner on
progress in his/her case. Information may be sourced
directly from the HCLSC/SCLSC or through the
relevant Court websites.
h)
DLSA may undertake to jointly conduct camps with
HCLSC/SCLSC to apprise prisoners of the various
remedies in law for bail/appeal/review/revision as
well as writ remedies."
NALSA has also adopted methods to strengthen the monitoring of
PLACs and to review their functioning.
Statistical Data
15. NALSA has stated that as per the information received from the
SLSAs, there are a total of 1265 Jails (including sub jails and women
jails), 1256 PLACs and 6663 Jail Visiting Lawyers. As of 2023-24,
NALSA has interacted with 4,56,798 inmates and provided legal
assistance to 3,24,867 inmates. Further, as of June, 2024, 880 appeals
of convicts have been filed in the Sessions Courts, 1,593 appeals
in the High Courts and as on date (that is up to 04.09.2024), 1309
convicts have been able to file special leave petitions in this Court.
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Legal Aid Defense Counsel System
16. A pioneering measure adopted by NALSA since the year 2021-22 is
the introduction of the Legal Aid Defense Counsel System with a view
to strengthen and professionalize legal services delivered. At present,
as per the report, around 611 of the 703 districts in the country have
the Legal Aid Defense Counsel System in place. Just as there is
a prosecuting office for the prosecution, this is an institutionalized
method of providing defense counsel assistance in legal aid matters.
The Legal Aid Defense Counsel System includes dedicated,
full-time experienced lawyers to represent the accused. The lawyers
exclusively deal with criminal legal aid cases ensuring effective and
efficient representation, timely and effective client consultations,
effective monitoring of legal aid cases, professional management of
legal aid work in criminal matters and enhance responsiveness to the
litigant. The modified Legal Aid Defense Counsel System Scheme
of 2022 provides for the selection process of the Legal Aid Defense
Counsels (LADCs), the number of human resources to be engaged,
the infrastructural requirements, essential qualifications and the
role of legal services institutions. The objective of the scheme is to
(a) Provide qualitative and competent legal services in criminal matters
to all eligible persons (b) To manage and implement legal aid system
in a professional manner in criminal matters. As of 31.03.2024, the
following are the statistics with regard to the number of Chief Legal
Aid Counsels, number of Deputy Chief Legal Aid Counsels and the
number of Assistant Legal Aid Counsels.
"Till 31.03.2024, Office of LADC was set up in 611 districts across
India.
Category of LADC
Human Resource
No. of Chief Legal Aid Counsels
500
No. of Deputy Chief Legal Aid Counsels
713
No. of Assistant Legal Aid Counsels
1193
Total No. of Legal Aid Defence Counsels
2406
Special Campaign for Prisoners
17. The report indicates that NALSA has time and again undertaken
special campaigns for prisoners to ensure timely access after
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recognizing the unique challenges faced by the convicts in accessing
justice. The objectives of the Campaign are to
(a) Secure appellate rights of the convicts;
(b) Ensuring that incarceration does not go beyond the period of
their imprisonment or after remission;
(c)
To secure parole/furlough and remission rights of the convicts.
To fully ensure the appellate rights of the convicts, NALSA with
the assistance of the DLSA, collects data of each of the convicts
from (i) Jail authorities (ii) Courts (iii) High Court Legal Services
Committee (iv) Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.
Steps are taken to ensure the communication of the status of the
appeal filed and the next date of hearing; follow up with regard to the
filing of appeals by the legal aid committee and the assigned counsel.
18. After collection of data, the following categorization is made:
"• Convicts who are not willing to file appeals/SLPs.
• Convicts who have already filed appeals/SLPs through
private lawyers.
• Convicts who have not at all filed appeals/SLPs but want
to file appeal/SLPs through Legal Services Institutions.
• Convicts who have sought legal aid for filing appeals/
SLPs but their appeals/SLPs have not been filed due to
lack of documents or other reasons.
• Convicts whose appeals/SLPs have been filed through
legal services authorities but they are not aware about
the name of their lawyers and the status of their appeals.
• Convicts who have moved bail applications through Legal
Services Institutions (LSIs) but are not aware about the
status of applications.
• Convicts who want to get their matter processed for
parole/furlough/remission etc. but are not aware of the
processes, and require drafting of applications for it."
Awareness
19. The most important task in any legal service is spreading of its
awareness to the needy. The status report of NALSA indicates that
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convicts were made aware about the availability of free legal services,
availability of the right to file Appeals/SLPs and the process of filing
the same. This guarantees and effectuates Article 21 inasmuch as
for the convict in custody too, who is virtually incommunicado with
the outside world, is positively made aware about his rights in the
nature of the existence of a right of appeal and the facility available
for availing free legal services. This brings into full play Section 341 of
the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which reads as under:-
341. Legal aid to accused at State expense in certain
cases.-
(1) Where, in a trial or appeal before a Court, the
accused is not represented by an advocate, and
where it appears to the Court that the accused has
not sufficient means to engage an advocate, the
Court shall assign an advocate for his defence at
the expense of the State.
(2) The High Court may, with the previous approval of
the State Government, make rules providing for-
(a) the mode of selecting advocates for defence
under sub-section (1); (b) the facilities to be allowed
to such advocates by the Courts; (c) the fees payable
to such advocates by the Government, and generally,
for carrying out the purposes of sub-section (1).
(3) The State Government may, by notification, direct
that, as from such date as may be specified in the
notification, the provisions of sub-sections (1) and
(2) shall apply in relation to any class of trials before
other Courts in the State as they apply in relation to
trials before Courts of Session."
Compilation and Translation of Documents.
20. NALSA report states that steps are being taken to ensure that
necessary documents are collected along with the custody
certificate and vakalatnama. Translation, interrogation through video
conferencing and drafting of applications are also arranged by NALSA.
21. We are satisfied that insofar as provision of legal services are
concerned, NALSA with the effective coordination of the SLSAs
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and DLSAs and assisting agencies are rendering yeomen service to
realize the constitutional goal of Article 39-A. They are also striving
hard for the effective implementation of the provisions of the Legal
Services Authorities Act, 1987.
SOP- For (Under Trial Review Committees (UTRCs).
22. While NALSA SOP-2022 dealt with the provisions of legal aid
services to the prisoners, NALSA has a separate Standard Operating
Procedure for the smooth functioning of the Under Trial Review
Committees (UTRCs). This is to ensure that prisoners covered under
the following 14 categories, as directed by this Court, are released
from jail without delay.