Indian Constitution (Article 39A) has provision for the legal aid to the marginalized sections of Indian citizens. This provision was added by the 42nd Constitution Amendment in 1976. But that is just eyewash. The free legal aid provision of Article 39A was put in action through the legal Services Authority Act, 1987. The section 12 of this Act lays down eligibility criteria for the persons to receive legal aid by the states. Under the criteria, the following persons are eligible to receive legal aid from the government:
1. a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe;
2. a victim of trafficking in human beings or begar as referred to in article 23 of the Constitution;
3. a woman or a child;
4. a person with disability as defined in clause (i) of section2 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.
5. a person under circumstances of underserved want such as being a victim of a mass disaster, ethnic, violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster; or
6. an industrial workman; or
7. in custody, including custody in a protective home or in a juvenile home or in a psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home
8. in receipt of annual income less than rupees nine thousand or such other higher amount as may be prescribed by the State Government, if the case is before a court other than the Supreme Court, and less than rupees twelve thousand or such other higher amount as may be prescribed by the Central Government, if the case is before the Supreme Court.
This is very low threshold of beneficiaries, which leaves out majority of lower and middle-income citizens from the per view of this legal aid. Lack of access to justice due to any reason is nothing but the denial of justice.
This system of Free Legal Aid is not very effective:
First, because it does not cover the entire cost of the judicial process.
Secondly, the procedure is complex.
Thirdly, the threshold of beneficiary excludes many deserving people.
Fourth, there is a lack of awareness about this facility among the weaker sections of society.
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