Free legal aid in India is a right, not charity, and it is significantly under-used because people do not know they qualify.
The basis
Article 39A of the Constitution directs the State to secure equal justice and free legal aid. The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 implements it through a structure of authorities: NALSA at the national level, the State Legal Services Authority, the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), and Taluk Legal Services Committees, along with committees attached to the Supreme Court and each High Court.
- A woman or a child
- A member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe
- A victim of trafficking or begar
- A person with a disability
- A person in custody, including in a protective home or juvenile home
- An industrial workman
- A victim of a mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster
- Anyone whose annual income falls below the limit prescribed by the State
Who is entitled, under Section 12
- A woman or a child
- A member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe
- A victim of trafficking or begar
- A person with a disability
- A person in custody, including in a protective home or juvenile home
- A victim of a mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster
- An industrial workman
- Any person whose annual income is below the limit prescribed by the State, or by the Centre for Supreme Court cases
Note that entitlement for a woman, a child, or an SC or ST member is not subject to an income test. This is widely misunderstood. The income ceiling in clause (h) is a floor which the State Government may raise, and higher figures have been prescribed, so do not rule yourself out on the number printed in an old copy of the Act.
There is one further filter, in Section 13. The Authority must be satisfied the applicant has a prima facie case to prosecute or to defend, so aid is refused where the claim is hopeless on its face. The same section says an affidavit as to income is ordinarily sufficient unless the Authority has reason to disbelieve it, which answers the worry that a certificate must first be got from a tahsildar.
Two separate rights, and people use only one
Legal aid under the 1987 Act is one route. The other sits in the criminal procedure itself. Section 341 BNSS provides that where an accused in a trial or appeal is not represented and it appears to the court that he has not sufficient means to engage an advocate, the court shall assign one at the expense of the State. That is a duty on the judge, and it is worth invoking in open court on the first date rather than in a queue outside an office. Alongside it, Section 478 BNSS allows an indigent person who cannot furnish a surety to be released on his own bond, and treats inability to give a bail bond within a week of arrest as ground to presume he is indigent. Between them these answer the person held in a bailable case only because he has no money and no lawyer. The applications open to somebody in custody are in our guide on the types of bail in India.
A lawyer's fee, court fee, process fee, the cost of certified copies, translation, printing and paper book preparation. It covers both civil and criminal matters, at the trial stage and on appeal, and it includes legal advice before litigation starts.
How to apply
- Go to the DLSA office, which is located in the district court complex, or apply through NALSA's online portal or the legal services helpline 15100.
- Submit a simple application with proof of the category you fall in: income certificate, caste certificate, or the fact of custody.
- A panel advocate is assigned. You may ask for a change if the assigned advocate is not attending to the matter.
In Karnataka the structure runs from the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority at Bengaluru, through the District Legal Services Authority in each district court complex, to the Taluk Legal Services Committee. For a matter already before the High Court of Karnataka there is a separate High Court Legal Services Committee, so apply to the body attached to the court where your case is. Jails run their own legal aid clinics with visiting advocates, which is how most bail applications from custody get filed.
Be clear about the limits. You may express a preference for a lawyer on the legal services panel. Under Regulation 7(6), the authority may consider that request, but is not bound to allow it. If the advocate is not appearing, the remedy is a written request to the Secretary of the Authority for a change, and it is granted more readily than people expect. Aid is also not confined to the poor in the popular sense, since a person in custody qualifies whatever their means. And an aided advocate can pursue the same remedies as a private one against a complaint you say is false, which are set out in our note on being falsely accused of a crime.
Lok Adalat
The same authorities organise Lok Adalats, where compoundable criminal cases, cheque bounce matters, motor accident claims, matrimonial disputes and money claims are settled by consent. There is no court fee, court fee already paid is refunded, and the award is binding with no appeal. For a settleable dispute it is by far the cheapest and fastest route available.
Section 21 gives that its force: every award of a Lok Adalat is deemed to be a decree of a civil court, is final and binding, no appeal lies against it, and the court fee already paid is refunded. The trade-off is that finality. Do not walk into a Lok Adalat with terms you have not read, and do not agree to a figure because the queue is long. Separately, Section 22B provides for Permanent Lok Adalats for public utility service disputes, which can decide on merits where conciliation fails, so a dispute with a utility may belong there.