Free and competent
legal services to the weaker section is provided under Legal
Services Authorities Act, 1987, which came into force on 9.11.95.
As per Clause (h) of Section 12 of the said Act, every person
whose annual income does not exceed Rs.9000/- is eligible for
free legal aid in cases coming before High Courts and Courts
subordinate thereto. In cases before the Supreme Court, the
limit was Rs.12,000/-. The Government employees as a class are
not recognized separately as a category eligible for legal aid.
The minimum
income ceiling prescribed under clause (h) of Section 12 of
the said Act can be enhanced by the appropriate Government.
In pursuance of the decision taken at the Annual Meet of the
State Legal Services Authorities held under the aegis of National
Legal Services Authorities on 12.9.1998, the minimum income
ceiling limit for cases before High Courts and Courts subordinate
thereto was required to be increased to Rs.25,000/- p.a.
Barring Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, West
Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra & Nagar haveli
and Laskhadweep, the income ceiling limit has since been enhanced.
For cases before Supreme Court the Central Government has
enhanced the annual income ceiling limit to Rs.50,000/- on 28.2.2000.
Some of the categories
of persons entitled to legal aid/legal services include: a member
of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribes; a victim of trafficking
in human beings or beggar as referred to in Article 23 of the
Constitution; a woman or a child; a mentally ill or otherwise
disabled person; 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 an industrial workman, or; an industrial workman; or a person
in custody including custody in a protective home etc; or a
person within the minimum income ceiling.
This information
was given by the Minister of Law and Justice and Commerce and
industry, Shri Arun Jaitley in a written reply to a question
by Shri Amar Roypradhan in the Lok Sabha today.
