- What are Legal Services?
Legal Services includes providing Free Legal Aid to those weaker sections of the society whofall within the purview of Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. It also entails creating legal awareness by spreading legal literacy through legal awareness camps, print media, digital media and organizing Lok Adalats for the amicable settlement of disputes which are either pending or which are yet to be filed, by way of compromise. SLSA also undertakes necessary steps by way of social action litigation with regards to any matter of special concern to the weaker sections of the society. Legal services also encompasses facilitating the beneficiaries to get their entitlements under various government schemes, policies and legislations - Who are Entitled to Free Legal Services?
The sections of the society as enlisted under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act are entitled for free legal services, they are :- A member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.
- A victim who has been affected by illegal human trafficking.
- Women or children.
- Persons displaced due to displacement, leprosy, relocation from one place to another, homelessness, blindness, or mental weakness.
- A person affected by a natural disaster, caste violence, class-based oppression, flood, famine, earthquake, or industrial disaster.
- An industrial worker
- A juvenile delinquent i.e., a person under 18 years of age, or a detained person who is in custody, a person in a protective home, a mental hospital, or a nursing home suffering from mental illness.
- A person whose annual income is less than ₹3,00,000/-.
- Where can you seek legal aid?
You may approach the following authorities for legal aid:- Taluk Legal Services Committee which is in the premises of the Court in that Taluk.
- District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) which is in the premises of the District Court in the District Headquarters.
- The concerned State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) (for cases, panels of which are maintained at State level).
- The High Court Legal Services Committee which is in the premises of the concerned High Court.
- The Supreme Court Legal Services Committee for cases before the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
Legal Aid
A person in need of free legal services can approach the concerned authority or committee through an application which could either be made by sending in written form,or by filling up the forms prepared by the said authorities stating in brief the reason for seeking legal aid or can be made orally in which case an officer of the concerned legal services authority or a paralegal volunteer can assist the person.
A person can also apply online for getting Legal Aid to any Legal Services Institution in the country by filling up the Legal Aid Application. Apply online for free legal aid click here.