Legal aid infrastructure at grassroots level 'awfully poor': Parliamentary Panel
Satya Prakash
New Delhi, December 18
Noting that the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) infrastructure at the grassroots level is awfully inadequate, a parliamentary panel has expressed concern over the quality of legal aid provided to litigants who can’t afford to engage private lawyers to fight their cases.
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“Quite often the LACs (Legal Aid Counsels) are paid poorly and they are engaged on an ad hoc basis. Thus, there is a dire need to provide adequate remuneration to them and to revise it on a regular basis. Further, appointing them on a full-time basis will certainly improve the level of commitment among the LACs,” says a report by the standing committee on law and personnel tabled in Parliament.
A majority of those entitled to free legal aid see it as an option only when they are not able to afford a private lawyer, the report says, citing “lack of trust in the LACs” as the reson.
“The quality of legal representation and lack of commitment of LACs is a matter of concern,” the report says. Observing that most of the funds for NALSA were utilised for administrative services, rather than providing legal aid, it says panel lawyers are not being adequately compensated and their remuneration has remained stagnant for long, affecting the quality of legal aid services.
The committee has recommended to NALSA to compensate lawyers adequately. “On the other hand, a robust system of monitoring the efficacy and accountability of legal aid services provided to the beneficiaries should be put into place by NALSA.The legal aid movement in India is far from being fully developed… In terms of expenditure too our spending per head on legal aid is perhaps among the lowest in the world,” the report says.
The committee has reiterated that NALSA must be given sufficient funds for meeting its statutory mandate.
