Lok Sabha Question No. 2734 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-10
Subject: Affordable Justice
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Poonam (Mahajan) Vajendla Rao

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

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## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2734

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 10 th  JULY, 2019

## Affordable Justice

## 2734. SHRIMATI  POONAM MAHAJAN:

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  details  of  achievement  made  by  the  Government  to  make  affordable and easy justice available to the common man in the country;
- (b) whether Government has evolved any scheme in this regard;  and
- (c)  if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW, COMMUNICATIONS AND  ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) to  (c):  The  Government  has  undertaken  a  number  of  measures  to  make available affordable and easy justice to the common man in the country. The Government  has  implemented  Access  to  Justice  Project  since  2012  in  8 States  of  the  North  East  namely,  Assam,  Nagaland,  Mizoram,  Manipur, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and the State of Jammu & Kashmir  in  partnership  with  State  Legal  Services  Authorities  and  State Governments.    Under  the  project  a  number  of  legal  aid  and  literacy

programme  are  being  implemented  in  these  States.  The  Government  in partnership  with  UNDP  also  implemented  another  project  on  Access  to Justice  in  8  States  namely,  UP,  Bihar,  M.P,  Chhattisgarh,  Jharkhand, Rajasthan,  Odisha  and  Maharashtra  from  2009  to  2017.  Under  the  project training  and  capacity  building  of  panel  lawyers,  para  legal  volunteers, elected  representatives  of  gram  panchayats  and  anganwadi  workers  have been undertaken.

In April,  2017, the  Government  has  launched  three  new  legal empowerment  initiatives,  namely,  Tele-law,  Pro  Bono  legal  services  and Nyaya Mitra. Tele-law scheme has been launched in 1800 gram panchayats in  11  States  of  the  country  for  providing  free  legal  aid  to  marginalised persons  as  mentioned  in  section  12  of  the  Legal  Services  Authority  Act, 1987. Till June, 2019, out of 72,167 cases registered under the scheme, legal advice has been provided in 70,423 cases. Under Nyaya Bandhu (Pro Bono Legal Services) scheme, 551 advocates have been registered for providing pro bono legal services and 444 cases have been registered under the Nyaya Bandhu Programme.  Under the Nyaya Mitra scheme, Nyaya Mitras have been  engaged  in  6  States  namely,  UP,  Bihar,  West  Bengal,  Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tripura.

In  addition to the  aforesaid initiatives,  Government has released Rs. 6,986  crore,  to  various  states  and  UT  governments  till  date,  since  the inception  of  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  (CSS)  for  Development  of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary in 1993-94. Out of this, Rs. 3,542 crore (which is 50.70% of the total amount released till date) has been released to the  States  and  UTs  since  April,  2014.    As  per  information  available,  the number of court halls has increased from 15,818 as on 30.06.2014 to 19,101

as on date and number of residential units has increased from 10,211 as on 30.06.2014 to 16,790 as on date under this scheme.  In addition, 2,833 court halls and 1896 residential units are under construction. The Government has approved continuation of the Scheme beyond the 12th Five Year Plan period i.e.  from  01.04.2017  to  31.03.2020  with  an  estimated  additional  outlay  of Rs.3,320 crore.

Further,  the  number  of  computerised  District  &  Subordinate  courts has increased from 13,672 to 16,845 registering an increase of 3,173 during 2014 till date. National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) has been launched which provides citizens with online information about case filings, case status and electronic  copies  of  orders  and  judgments  from  district  and  subordinate courts  that  have  already  been  computerized.  Information  regarding  11.67 crore  cases  is  available  on  this  portal.    eCourts  services  such  as  details  of case registration, cause list, case status, daily orders & final judgments are available  to  litigants  and  advocates  through  eCourts  web  portal,  Judicial Service Centres (JSC) in all computerised courts, eCourts Mobile App with facility  of  QR  Code  (more  than  20  lakh  downloads),  email  service,  SMS push & pull services. eCourts Project has been consistently amongst the top 5  Mission  Mode  Projects  of  country  with  a  total  number  of  electronic transactions at 262.26 crore.

National  Legal  Services  Authority  (NALSA),  constituted  under  the Legal  Services  Authorities  Act,  1987,  has  also  undertaken  number  of measures  to  make  available  affordable  and  speedy  justice  to  the  common man in the country. Under the Act, legal services institutions have been set up at state, district and taluka level. Apart from  the legal services institutions,  High  Court  Legal  Services  Committees  are  constituted  at  all High Courts level and the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee at the

Supreme Court level  to  provide  free  legal  services  to  the  persons  eligible under section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act.  Free legal services include payment of court fees, providing advocate and preparation of paper book etc.

Legal  aid  clinics  set  up  in  jails,  observation  homes,  juvenile  justice boards  and  law  schools  are  manned  by  panel  lawyers  and  para  legal volunteers of legal services authorities. NALSA has also developed schemes and programmes to ensure equitable access to justice for specific categories of people who are excluded from the formal legal system due to political, cultural,  social  or  environmental  conditions.  During  2018-19,  more  than 14.72 lakh persons have benefited through legal services provided by them.

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