PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION

Introduction
• Public interest litigation (PIL) has a vital role in the civil justice system
in that it could achieve those objectives which could hardly be
achieved through conventional private litigation.
• PIL offers a ladder to justice to the disadvantaged sections of society,
provides an avenue to enforce diffused or collective rights, and
enables civil society to not only spread awareness about human rights
but also allows them to participate in government decision making.
• PIL would also contribute to the good governance by keeping the
government accountable. However, the Indian PIL experience also
shows us that it is critical to ensure that PIL does not become a facade
to fulfill private interests, settle political scores or gain easy publicity.
• At the same time, Judiciary in a democracy should also not use PIL as
a device to run the country on a day-today basis or enter the
legitimate domain of the executive and legislature.
Contd…….
• The high cost and complicated procedures involved in
litigation, however, makes unequal access to jurisdiction in
mere slogan in respect of millions of destitute and
underprivileged masses, stricken by poverty, illiteracy and
ignorance.
• Therefore, the Supreme Court of India pioneered the Public
Interest Litigation (PIL) thereby throwing upon the portals of
courts to the common man.
• The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) as it has developed recently,
marks a significant departure from traditional judicial
proceedings.
PIL:MeaningandDefinition

• According to Black's Law Dictionary- "Public Interest Litigation

means a legal action initiated in a court of law for the enforcement
of public interest or general interest in which the public or class of
the community have pecuniary interest or some interest by which
their legal rights or liabilities are affected.“
• In Indian law, public interest litigation means litigation for the
protection of the public interest. It is litigation introduced in a court
of law, not by the aggrieved party but by the court itself or by any
other private party.
• It is not necessary, for the exercise of the court’s jurisdiction, that
the person who is the victim of the violation of his or her right
should personally approach the court.
• Thus, public interest litigation is the power given to the public by
courts through judicial activism. However, the person filing the
petition must prove to the satisfaction of the court that the petition is
being filed for a public interest and not just as a frivolous litigation
by a busy body.
Contd……..
•Such cases may occur when the victim does not have the necessary resources to
commence litigation or his freedom to move court has been suppressed or encroached
upon. The court can itself take cognizance of the matter and proceed suo motu or cases
can commence on the petition of any public-spirited individual.
Concept Of PIL:
•According to the jurisprudence of Article 32 of the Constitution of India “The right to
move the Supreme Court by appropriate proceedings for the enforcement of the rights
conferred by this part is guaranteed”. Ordinarily, only the aggrieved party has the right
to seek redress under Article 32.
•In 1981 Justice P. N. Bhagwati in S. P. Gupta v. Union of India, articulated the concept
of PIL as follows:
“Where a legal wrong or a legal injury is caused to a person or to a
determinate class of persons by reason of violation of any constitutional or legal right
or any burden is imposed in contravention of any constitutional or legal provision or
without authority of law or any such legal wrong or legal injury or illegal burden is
threatened and such person or determinate class of persons by reasons of poverty,
helplessness or disability or socially or economically disadvantaged position unable to
approach the court for relief, any member of public can maintain an application for an
appropriate direction, order or writ in the High Court under Article 226 and in case any
breach of fundamental rights of such persons or determinate class of persons, in this
court under Article 32 seeking judicial redress for the legal wrong or legal injury
caused to such person or determinate class of persons.”
Contd…..
Writ Jurisdiction under Article- 32 and 226 of the Constitution of
India, 1950:
-The importance of Article 32 is referred to as the “Doctrine of Constitutional
Remedy" for enforcement of Fundamental Rights. Dr. [Link]
described Article 32 as the heart and soul of the Constitution.
-Public Interest Litigation can be filed before the Supreme Court under
Article- 32 of the Constitution or before the High Court of a State under
Article -226 of the Constitution under their respective Writ Jurisdictions.
-Article 21—‘‘no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except
according to the procedure established by law’’proved to be the most
fertile provision in the evolution of new FRs.
Is it PIL or SAL (Social Action Litigation)?
• The birth of PIL in India was connected to the evolution of PIL in the United
States, therefore, it was natural for scholars to draw comparisons between the
US experience and the Indian experience.
• It was argued that PIL in India should be labeled as social action litigation
(SAL).
• Baxi was the key scholar who mooted for such indigenous labeling of PIL
because of its distinctive characteristics. He contended that whereas PIL in the
United States has focused on ‘‘civic participation in governmental decision
making’’, the Indian PIL discourse was directed against ‘‘state repression or
governmental lawlessness’’ and was focused primarily on the rural poor.
• Baxi highlighted another contrast in the early 1980s, : that unlike India, PIL in
the United States sought to represent ‘‘interests without groups’’ such as
consumerism or environment.
• Here, at least two comments could be made about the desire to designate PIL
as SAL.
Contd……
-First, the term ‘‘social action’’ probably implied the role that law
could/should play in social engineering. However, considering that in
PIL cases judges (rather than the legislature) play a key role and the
law is judge-made law, one should not over-estimate what courts
could deliver through PIL/SAL in a democracy.
-Secondly, the character of the PIL in India has changed a lot in the
second phase in that now it is not limited to protect the interests of
disadvantaged sections of society or to redressing state repression
and governmental lawlessness.
- In fact, in the second phase, the focus of PIL in India has shifted from
poor to the middle class and from redressing state exploitation of
disadvantaged groups to pleas for civic participation in governance.
- Although there are still differences between how the PIL
jurisprudence has unfolded in the United States and India, the
distinction as to the subject-matter or the basic objective of the PIL is
not that much as it used to be when an argument was made to label
PIL as SAL.
 Evolution of PIL in India
• Part III of the Constitution lays down various FRs and also specifies
grounds for limiting these rights. “As a right without a remedy does
not have much substance”, the remedy to approach the Supreme
Court directly for the enforcement of any of the Part- III rights has
also been made a FR under Art-32.
• The power to enforce the FRs was conferred on both the Supreme
Court (Art-32)and the High Courts(Art-226)—the courts that have
entertained all the PIL cases.
• The two judges of the Indian Supreme Court (Justice Bhagwati and
Justice Krishna Iyer.) prepared the groundwork, from mid-1970s to
early 1980s, for the birth of PIL in India.
• This included modifying the traditional requirements of locus
standi, liberalising the procedure to file writ petitions, creating or
expanding FRs, overcoming evidentiary problems, and evolving
innovative remedies.
Contd……..
-Thus, the seeds of the concept of public interest litigation were initially
shown in India by Krishna Iyer J., in 1976 in Mumbai Kamagar Sabha vs.
Abdul Thai (AIR 1976 SC 1455; 1976 (3) SCC 832) and was initiated in
Akhil Bharatiya Soshit Karmachari Sangh (Railway) v. Union of India,
wherein an unregistered association of workers was permitted to institute a
writ petition under Art.32 of the Constitution for the redressal of common
grievances.
-The first reported case of PIL in 1979 focused on the inhuman conditions
of prisons and under trial prisoners. In Hussainara Khatoon v. State of
Bihar, the PIL was filed by an advocate on the basis of the news item
published in the Indian Express, highlighting the plight of thousands of
under trial prisoners languishing in various jails in Bihar.
-Further, Justice Krishna lyer., enunciated the reasons for liberalization of the rule
of Locus Standi in Fertilizer Corporation Kamgar vs. Union of India (AIR 1981
SC 149; 1981 (2) SCR 52) and finally the ideal of ‘Public Interest Litigation’ was
blossomed in [Link] and others vs. Union of India, (AIR 1982 SC 149).
Contd………..
• Modification of the traditional requirement of standing was sine qua non for
the evolution of PIL and any public participation in justice administration.
• The need was more pressing in a country like India where a great majority of
people were either ignorant of their rights or were too poor to approach the
court.
• Realizing this need, the Court held that any member of public acting bona fide
and having sufficient interest has a right to approach the court for redressal of
a legal wrong, especially when the actual plaintiff suffers from some disability
or the violation of collective diffused rights is at stake.
• A new era of the PIL movement was heralded by Justice P.N. Bhagawati in the
case of S.P. Gupta v. Union of India. In this case it was held that “any member
of the public or social action group acting bonafide” can invoke the Writ
Jurisdiction of the High Courts or the Supreme Court seeking redressal against
violation of a legal or constitutional right of persons who due to social or
economic or any other disability cannot approach the Court.
• By this judgment PIL became a potent weapon for the enforcement of “public
duties” where executed in action or misdeed resulted in public injury. And as a
result any citizen of India or any consumer groups or social action groups can
now approach the apex court of the country seeking legal remedies in all cases
where the interests of general public or a section of public are at stake.
 The three phases of PIL
-The PIL discourse in India could be divided into three broad phases. –
these three phases differ from each other in terms of at least the
following four variables:
 who initiated PIL cases;
 what was the subject matter/focus of PIL;
 against whom the relief was sought; and
 how judiciary responded to PIL cases.
-In the first phase—which began in the late 1970s and continued
through the1980s—the PIL cases were generally filed by public-
spirited persons (lawyers, journalists, social activists or academics).
- During this period, most of the cases related to the rights of
disadvantaged sections of society such as child labourers, bonded
labourers, prisoners, mentally challenged, pavement dwellers, and
women.
- The relief was sought against the action or non-action on the part of
executive agencies resulting in violations of FRs under the
Constitution.
Contd……
-During this phase, the judiciary responded by recognising the rights of
these people and giving directions to the government to redress the
alleged violations. In short, it is arguable that in the first phase, the
PIL truly became an instrument of the type of social
transformation/revolution that the founding fathers had expected to
achieve through the Constitution.
-The second phase of the PIL was in the 1990s during which several
significant changes in the chemistry of PIL took place.
-In comparison to the first phase, the filing of PIL cases became more
institutionalized in that several specialized NGOs and lawyers
started bringing matters of public interest to the courts on a much
regular basis.
-The breadth of issues raised in PIL also expanded tremendously from
the protection of environment to corruption-free administration,
right to education, sexual harassment at the workplace, relocation of
industries, rule of law, good governance, and the general
accountability of the Government.
Contd…….
-It is to be noted that in this phase, the petitioners sought relief not only
against the action/non-action of the executive but also against
private individuals, in relation to policy matters, and regarding
something that would clearly fall within the domain of the
legislature.
• The response of the judiciary during the second phase was by and
large much bolder and unconventional than the first phase. For
instance, the courts did not hesitate to come up with detailed
guidelines where there were legislative gaps.
-The courts enforced FRs against private individuals and granted relief
to the petitioner without going into the question of whether the
violator of the FR was the state.
-The second phase was also the period when the misuse of PIL not only
began but also reached to a disturbing level, which occasionally
compelled the courts to impose fine on plaintiffs for misusing
PILfor private purposes.
Contd…..
• On the other hand, the third phase—the current phase, which began
with the 21st century—is a period in which anyone could file a PIL for
almost anything. It seems that there is a further expansion of issues that
could be raised as PIL, e.g. calling back the Indian cricket team from the
Australia tour and preventing an alleged marriage of an actress with
trees for astrological reasons.
• From the judiciary’s point of view, one could argue that it is time for
judicial introspection and for reviewing what courts tried to achieve
through PIL.
• As compared to the second phase, the judiciary has seemingly shown
more restraint in issuing directions to the government. Although the
judiciary is unlikely to roll back the expansive scope of PIL, it is
possible that it might make more measured interventions in the future.
• One aspect that stands out in the third phase deserves a special mention.
In continuation of its approval of the government’s policies of
liberalisation in Delhi Science Forum, the judiciary has shown a general
support to disinvestment and development policies of the Government.
Contd….
Summary:
-It seems that the judicial attitude towards PIL in these three phases is a
response, at least in part, to how it perceived to be the ‘‘issue(s) in
vogue’’.
- If rights of prisoners, pavement dwellers, child/bonded labourers
and women were in focus in the first phase, issues such as
environment, AIDS, corruption and good governance were at the
forefront in second phase, and development and free market
considerations might dominate the third phase.
- So, the way courts have reacted to PIL in India is merely a
reflection of what people expected from the judiciary at any given
point of time. If the judiciary deviates too much from the prevailing
social expectations, it might not command the public support that it
requires to sustain PIL.
 Matters of Public Interest Litigation
The following are the subjects which may be
litigated under the head of Public Interest Litigation:
 Bonded labour matters
 Matters of neglected children
 Exploitation of casual labourers and nonpayment of wages to them
(except in individual cases)
 Matters of harassment or torture of persons belonging to
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Economically Backward
Classes,either by co-villagers or by police.
 Matters relating to environmental pollution, disturbance of
ecological balance, drugs, food adulteration, maintenance of
heritage and culture, antiques, forests and wild life.
 Petitions from riot victims and any other matters of public
importance.
 The matters of private nature-Not PIL

They include :
(i) threat to or harassment of the petitioner by private
persons
(ii) seeking enquiry by an agency other than local police,
(iii) seeking police protection
(iv) land lord -tenant dispute
(v) Service matters
(vi) admission to medical or engineering colleges
(vii) early hearing of matters pending in High Court and
subordinate courts and are not considered matters of
public interest.
 Facets of PIL
(a) Remedial in Nature:
-Remedial nature of PIL departs from traditional locus standi rules. It
indirectly incorporated the principles enshrined in the part IV of the
Constitution of India into part III of the Constitution.
-By riding the aspirations of part IV into part III of the Constitution had
changed the procedural nature of the Indian law into dynamic welfare
one. Bandhu Mukti Morcha v. Union of India, Unnikrishnan v. State of
A.P, etc were the obvious examples of this change in nature of judicial
activism.
(b) Representative Standing:
-It can be seen as a creative expansion of the well-accepted standing
exception which allows a third party to file a habeas corpus petition on
the ground that the injured party cannot approach the court himself.
-And in this regard the Indian concept of PIL is much broader in relation to
the American. PIL is a modified form of class action.
Contd……….
c) Citizen standing:
The doctrine of citizen standing marks a significant expansion of the
court’s rule, from protector of individual rights to guardian of the
rule of law wherever threatened by official lawlessness.
(d) Non-adversarial Litigation:
In People’s Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India, the
Supreme Court held that public interest litigation…is a totally
different kind of litigation from the ordinary traditional litigation
which is essentially of an adversary character where there is a
dispute between two litigating parties, one making claim or seeking
relief against the other and that other opposing such claim or
resisting such relief”.
-Non-adversarial litigation has two aspects:
 1. Collaborative litigation and
 2. Investigative Litigation.
Contd……..
 Collaborative litigation:
-In collaborative litigation the effort is from all the sides. The
claimant, the court and the Government or the public official, all
are in collaboration here to see that basic human rights become
meaningful for the large masses of the people.
-PIL helps executive to discharge its constitutional obligations.
-Court assumes three different functions other than that from
traditional determination and issuance of a decree.
(i) Ombudsman- The court receives citizen complaints and
brings the most important ones to the attention of responsible
government officials.
(ii) Forum – The court provides a forum or place to discuss the
public issues at length and providing emergency relief through
interim orders.
(iii) Mediator – The court comes up with possible compromises.
Contd……
Investigative Litigation:
-It is doctrine of investigative litigation because it works on the reports of
the Registrar, District Magistrate, comments of experts, newspapers etc.
e) Relaxation of strict rule of Locus Standi:
The strict rule of locus standi has been relaxed by way of:
(a) Representative standing, and
(b) Citizen standing.
The rule of ‘locus standi’ has been relaxed and a person acting bona-
fide and having sufficient interest in the proceeding of Public
Interest Litigation will alone have a ‘locus standi’ and can
approach the court to wipe out violation of fundamental rights
and genuine infraction of statutory provisions, but not for
personal gain or private profit or political motive or any oblique
consideration.
Contd……
Justice Krishna Iyer in Fertilizer Corporation Kamgar Union vs. Union of
India, (1981) enumerated the following reasons for liberalization of the rule of
locus standi:-
1. Exercise of state power to eradicate corruption may result in
unrelated interference with individuals’ rights.
2. Social justice warants liberal judicial review of administrative action.
3. Restrictive rules of standing are antithesis to a healthy system of
administrative action.
4. “Activism is essential for participative public justice”.
Therefore, a public minded citizen must be given an opportunity to
move the court in the interests of the public. Since then, a good number of
public interest litigation petitions were filed. They are people of this country
who do not have direct interest at stake in the PIL filed before a court but
work pro bono publico, i.e. in the larger interests of the public and for their
general welfare in good faith.
 Letter accepted as PIL
-At present, the court can treat a letter as a PIL and take action upon it. But, it is not
every letter which may be treated as a PIL by the court.
-The court would be justified in treating the letter as a PIL only in the following cases-
It is only where the letter is addressed by an aggrieved person or a public spirited
individual or a social action group for enforcement of the constitutional or the legal
rights of a person in custody or of a class or group of persons who by reason of
poverty, disability or socially or economically disadvantaged position find it
difficult to approach the court for redress.
-No petition involving individual/ personal matter shall be entertained as a PIL matter
except as indicated hereinafter.
-Letter-petitions falling under the following categories alone will ordinarily be
entertained as public interest litigation:-
1. Bonded labour matters.
2. Neglected children.
3. Non-payment of minimum wages to workers and exploitation of casual workers
and complaints of violation of labour laws (except in individual cases).
4. Petitions from jails complaining of harassment, for (pre-mature release)* and
seeking release after having completed 14 years in jail, death in jail, transfer,
release on personal bond, speedy trial as a fundamental right.
Procedure for the entertainment of PIL
• All letter-petitions received in the PIL cell will first be screened in the cell and
only such petitions as are covered by the above mentioned categories will be
placed before a judge to be nominated by Hon'ble the chief justice of India for
directions after which the case will be listed before the bench concerned.
• If a letter-petition is to be lodged, the orders to that effect should be passed by
registrar (judicial) (or any registrar nominated by the Hon'ble chief justice of
India), instead of additional registrar, or any junior officer.
• To begin with only one Hon'ble judge may be assigned this work and number
increased to two or three later depending on the workload.
• Submission notes be put up before an Hon'ble judge nominated for such periods as may be
decided by the Hon'ble chief justice of India from time to time.
Contd……
If on scrutiny of a letter petition, it is found that the same is not
covered under the PIL guidelines and no public interest is
involved, then the same may be lodged only after the approval
from the registrar nominated by the Hon'ble the chief justice of
India.
It may be worthwhile to require an affidavit to be filed in
support of the statements contained in the petition whenever it is
not too onerous a requirement.
 Supreme Court guidelines on entertainment of PIL

In State of Uttranchal Vs Balwant Singh Chaufal, (Civil Appeal No. 1132 -1134 of
2002 )

The supreme court, through bench consisting of justices Dalveer Bhandari and

Mukundakam Sharma stated that the filing of indiscriminate petitions “creates

unnecessary strain on the judicial system and consequently leads to inordinate

delay in disposal of genuine and bona fide cases,”. Further, Justice Bhandari,

writing the judgment said that in order to preserve the purity and sanctity of

the  PIL, it has become imperative to issue the following  directions:-

1. the courts must encourage genuine and bona fide PIL and effectively

discourage and curb the PIL filed for extraneous considerations.

Contd……

2. instead of every individual judge devising his own procedure for dealing with the
public interest litigation, it would be appropriate for each high court to properly
formulate rules for encouraging the genuine PIL and discouraging the PIL filed
with oblique motives.  Consequently, we request that the high courts who have not
yet framed the rules, should frame the rules within three months. The registrar
general of each high court is directed to ensure that a copy of the rules prepared by
the high court is sent to the secretary general of this court immediately thereafter.
3. the courts should prima facie verify the credentials of the petitioner before
entertaining a P.I.L.
4. the court should be prima facie satisfied regarding the correctness of the contents of
the petition before entertaining a PIL.
5. the court should be fully satisfied that substantial public interest is involved before
entertaining the petition.
Contd….
6. the court should ensure that the petition which involves larger
public interest, gravity and urgency must be given priority over
other petitions.
7. the courts before entertaining the PIL should ensure that the PIL is
aimed at redressal of genuine public harm or public injury. The
court should also ensure that there is no personal gain, private
motive or oblique motive behind filing the public interest litigation.
8. the court should also ensure that the petitions filed by busybodies
for extraneous and ulterior motives must be discouraged by
imposing exemplary costs or by adopting similar novel methods to
curb frivolous petitions and the petitions filed for extraneous
considerations.
 Merits & Demerits of PIL
Merits:
• 1. In public interest litigation (PIL) vigilant citizens of the country can
find an inexpensive legal remedy because there is only a nominal fixed
court fee involved in this.
• 2. Further, through the so-called PIL, the litigants can focus attention on
and achieve results pertaining to larger public issues, especially in the
fields of human rights, consumer welfare and environment.
Demerits:
• 1. The genuine causes and cases of public interest have in fact receded to
the background and irresponsible PIL activists all over the country have
started to play a major but not a constructive role in the arena of
litigation. Of late, many of the PIL activists in the country have found the
PIL as a handy tool of harassment since frivolous cases could be filed
without investment of heavy court fees as required in private civil
litigation and deals could then be negotiated with the victims of stay
orders obtained in the so-called PILs.
Contd…..
• [Link] framers of Indian constitution did not incorporate a strict doctrine of separation of powers but

envisaged a system of checks and balances. Policy making and implementation of policy are

conventionally regarding as the exclusive domain of the executive and the legislature. Vishaka v State

of Rajasthan which was a PIL concerning sexual harassment of women at work place. The court

declared that till the legislature enacted a law consistent with the convention on the elimination of all

forms of discrimination against women which India was a signatory, the guidelines set out by the

court would be enforceable.

• [Link] flexibility of procedure that is a character of PIL has given rise to another set of problems. It

gives an opportunity to opposite parties to ascertain the precise allegation and respond specific issues.

• [Link] credibility of PIL process is now adversely affected by the criticism that the judiciary is

overstepping the boundaries of its jurisdiction and that it is unable to supervise the effective

implementation of its orders. It has also been increasingly felt that PIL is being misused by the people

agitating for private grievance in the grab of public interest and seeking publicity rather than

espousing public cause.

 Unit-II
Legal Aid and Para Legal Services
Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987
-Parliament enacted the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987, and one of the aims
for the enactment of this Act was to organize Lok Adalat to secure that the
operation of legal system promotes justice on the basis of an equal opportunity.
-The Act gives statutory recognition to the resolution of disputes by compromise
and settlement by the Lok-Adalats.
-According to Legal Services Authorities (Amendment) Act 1994 effective from 09-
11-1995 has since been passed, Lok-Adalat settlement is no longer a voluntary
concept.
By this Act Lok-Adalat has got statutory character and has been legally recognized.
Salient features of the Act are: (Section 19)
1. Central, State, District and Taluk Legal Services Authority has been created who
are responsible for organizing Lok Adalats at such intervals and place.
2. Presiding officers for Lok Adalat comprise the following: -
A. A sitting or retired judicial officer.
B. other persons of repute as may be prescribed by the State
Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of High Court.
Contd………
Section 20: Reference of Cases
Cases can be referred for consideration of Lok Adalat as under:-
 1. By consent of both the parties to the disputes.
 2. One of the parties makes an application for reference.
 3. Where the Court is satisfied that the matter is an appropriate one to be
taken cognizance of by the Lok -Adalat.
 4. Compromise settlement shall be guided by the principles of justice, equity,
fair play and other legal principles.
 5. Where no compromise has been arrived at through conciliation, the matter
shall be returned to the concerned court for disposal in accordance with Law.
Section 21 : After the agreement is arrived by the consent of the parties,
award is passed by the conciliators. The matter need not be referred to the
concerned Court for consent decree. The provisions envisages as under:
 1. Every award of Lok Adalat shall be deemed as decree of Civil Court.
 2. Every award made by the Lok Adalat shall be final and binding on all the
parties to the dispute.
 3. No appeal shall lie from the award of the Lok Adalat.
Contd……..
Section 22 : Every proceedings of the Lok Adalat shall be
deemed to be judicial proceedings for the purpose of :-
-1. Summoning of Witnesses.
-2. Discovery of documents.
-3. Reception of evidences.
-4. Requisitioning of Public record
 Levels and Composition of Lok Adalats:

National Lok-Adalat
• National Level Lok-Adalats are held for at regular intervals
where on a single day Lok Adalats are held throughout the
country, in all the courts right from the Supreme Court till the
Taluk Levels wherein cases are disposed off in huge numbers.
• From February 2015, National Lok Adalats are being held on a
specific subject matter every month.
At the State Authority Level -
• The Member Secretary of the State Legal Services Authority
organizing the Lok-Adalat would constitute benches of the Lok-
Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judge of the
High Court or a sitting or retired judicial officer and any one or
both of- a member from the legal profession; a social worker
engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in
the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes.
Contd…….
At High Court Level -
• The Member Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee
would constitute benches of the Lok-Adalat, each bench comprising
of a sitting or retired judge of the High Court and any one or both of-
a member from the legal profession; a social worker engaged in the
upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the
implementation of legal services schemes or programmes.
At District Level -
• The Member Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority
organizing the Lok-Adalat would constitute benches of the Lok-
Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judicial officer
and any one or both of either a member from the legal profession;
and/or a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker
sections and interested in the implementation of legal services
schemes or programmes or a person engaged in para-legal activities
of the area, preferably a woman.
Contd…..
At Taluk Level -
• The Member Secretary of the Taluk Legal Services Committee
organizing the Lok Adalat would constitute benches of the Lok
Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judicial
officer and any one or both of either a member from the legal
profession; and/or a social worker engaged in the upliftment of
the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of
legal services schemes or programmes or a person engaged in
para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman.
Contd………
Permanent Lok Adalat
• The other type of Lok Adalat is the Permanent Lok Adalat,
organized under Section 22-B of The Legal Services Authorities
Act, 1987.
• Permanent Lok Adalats have been set up as permanent bodies
with a Chairman and two members for providing compulsory
pre-litigative mechanism for conciliation and settlement of
cases relating to Public Utility Services like transport, postal,
telegraph etc.
• Here, even if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the
Permanent Lok Adalat gets jurisdiction to decide the dispute,
provided, the dispute does not relate to any offence. Further,
the Award of the Permanent Lok Adalat is final and binding on
all the parties.
Contd……….
• The jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok-Adalats is upto Rs.10
[Link] if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the
Permanent Lok-Adalat has the jurisdiction to decide the case.
• The award of the Permanent Lok-Adalat is final and binding upon
the parties.
• The Lok-Adalat may conduct the proceedings in such a manner as
it considers appropriate, taking into account the circumstances of
the case, wishes of the parties like requests to hear oral statements,
speedy settlement of dispute etc.
Mobile Lok-Adalats 
• The Mobile Lok-Adalats are also organized in various parts of the
country which travel from one location to another to resolve
disputes in order to facilitate the resolution of disputes through this
mechanism.
• As on 30.09.2015, more than 15.14 lakhs Lok Adalats have been
organized in the country since its inception. More than 8.25 crore
cases have been settled by this mechanism so far.
Hierarchy of Bodies /Authorities created under the Act, 1987
A nationwide network has been envisaged under the Act for providing legal aid and
assistance through the various authorities as under:
National Legal Services Authority
National Legal Services Authority is the apex body constituted to lay down policies and
principles for making legal services available under theprovisions of the Act and to
frame most effective and economical schemes for legal services.
It also disburses funds and grants to State Legal Services Authorities and NGOs for
implementing legal aid schemes and programmes.
NALSA is laying great deal of emphasis on legal literacy and legal awareness campaign.
Supreme Court Legal Services Committee
•The Central Authority shall constitute a Committee to be called the Supreme Court Legal
Services Committee for the purpose of exercising such powers and performing such
functions as may be determined by regulations made by the Central Authority.
•
Contd……
State Legal Services Authority
In every State a State Legal Services Authority is constituted to give effect to the
policies and directions of the Central Authority (NALSA) and to give legal services to
the people and conduct Lok Adalats in the State.
State Legal Services Authority is headed by the Chief Justice of the State High Court
who is its Patron-in-Chief. A serving or retired Judge of the High Court is nominated as
its Executive Chairman.
Almost all the State Legal Services Authorities are identifying suitable and trustworthy
NGOs through whom legal literacy campaign may be taken to tribal, backward and far-
flung areas in the country.
District Legal Services Authority
• District Legal Services Authority is constituted in every District to implement Legal
Aid Programmes and Schemes in the District.
• The District Judge of the District is its ex-officio Chairman.
Taluk Legal Services Committees
• Taluk Legal Services Committees are also constituted for each of the Taluk or Mandal
or for group of Taluk or Mandals to co-ordinate the activities of legal services in the
Taluk and to organise Lok Adalats.
• Every Taluk Legal Services Committee is headed by a senior Civil Judge operating
within the jurisdiction of the Committee who is its ex-officio Chairman.
 Criterion for providing legal aid
-Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 prescribes the criteria for giving
legal services to the eligible persons. Section 12 of the Act reads as under:- Every
person who has to file or defend a case shall be entitled to legal services under this
Act if that person is - 
(a) a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe;
(b) a victim of trafficking in human beings or beggar as referred to in Article 23 of the
Constitution;
(c) a woman or a child;
(d) a mentally ill or otherwise disabled person;
(e) a person under circumstances of undeserved want such as being a victim of a mass
disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial
disaster; or
(f) an industrial workman; or
(g) in custody, including custody in a protective home within the meaning of clause (g)
of section 2 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (104 of 1956); or in a
juvenile home within the meaning of clause(j) of section 2 of the Juvenile Justice
Act, 1986 (53 of 1986) or in a psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home
within the meaning of clause (g) of section 2 of the Mental Health Act, 1987 (14 of
1987); or
Contd……….
(h) in receipt of annual income less than less than Rs: 100000/- or such other higher amount
as may be prescribed by the State Govt., if the case is before Supreme Court, the Central
Govt may prescribe the higher amount .

According to section 2(1) (a) of the Act, legal aid can be provided to a person for a 'case'
which includes a suit or any proceeding before a court.
Section 2(1) (aaa) defines the 'court' as a civil, criminal or revenue court and includes any
tribunal or any other authority constituted under any law for the time being in force, to
exercise judicial or quasi-judicial functions.
As per section 2(1)(c) 'legal service' includes the rendering of any service in the conduct of
any case or other legal proceeding before any court or other authority or tribunal and the
giving of advice on any legal matter.

Legal Services Authorities after examining the eligibility criteria of an applicant and the
existence of a prima facie case in his favour provide him counsel at State expense, pay the
required Court Fee in the matter and bear all incidental expenses in connection with the
case.
The person to whom legal aid is provided is not called upon to spend anything on the
litigation once it is supported by a Legal Services Authority.
Legal Aid under C.P.C and Cr.P.C

• S.304(1) of Cr.P.C. Lays down that when accused facing a trial he can
get legal aid. In the absence of lawyer, the entire trial becomes vitiated
and then case to be remanded back to the trial court.
• The Court has to ask the accused, whether he has resources to engage
a lawyer or not. If not, the court is bound to give him lawyer from the
bar, who should be well versed with the law and paid by St. Govt.
• Court cannot sympathize with a lawyer. Lawyer must be a competent
one. " is amicus curiae (friend of court).

• Order 33, rule 17, CPC :- Suit by or against an indigent person. When a
plaint along with petition, that person unable to avail services of an
lawyer, then court exempts him from court fees.
Amendments made to the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987

According to Legal Services Authorities (Amendment) Act 1994 effective from 09-11-1995 has since
been passed, Lok-Adalat settlement is no longer a voluntary concept. By this Act Lok-Adalat has got
statutory character and has been legally recognized.
The salient features of the amendment are as follows:

(i) to provide for the establishment of Permanent Lok Adalats which shall consist of a Chairman who is
or has been a district judge or additional district judge or has held judicial office higher in rank than
that of the district judge and two other persons having adequate experience in public utility services;

(ii) the Permanent Lok Adalat shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of one or more public utility services
such as transport services of passengers or goods by air, road and water, postal, telegraph or
telephone services, supply of power, light or water to the public by any establishment, public
conservancy or sanitation, services in hospitals or dispensaries; and insurance services;

(iii) the pecuniary jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalat shall be up to rupees ten lakhs. However,
the Central Government may increase the said pecuniary jurisdiction from time to time. It shall have
not jurisdiction in respect of any matter relating to an offence not compoundable under any law;