Police station, bus stop… numbers related to free legal aid will be written in public places, order of Supreme Court

New Delhi : The Supreme Court said that a strong mechanism should be established to ensure the functioning of Free Legal Aid, so that the beneficial schemes run by the Legal Services Authority can be made available to all the people. The Supreme Court bench led by Justice BR Gavai has issued several directions on the issue of providing necessary legal aid to the needy (prisoners etc.). The Supreme Court has said that the address and phone number of the nearest legal aid office should be prominently written in public places like police stations, bus stops.

The Supreme Court has said that the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) in collaboration with the states and district legal service authorities will ensure that the prisoners in jail have access to legal aid services and for this, SOP (Standard operating procedures) should be conducted efficiently.

The court said that the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) in collaboration with the states and district legal services authorities will ensure that the standard operating procedure for access of legal aid services to the prisoners in jail is properly followed.

The Supreme Court has said that awareness about this is very important for the success of the legal aid system. A strong system should be created to ensure that people in every corner of the country get information about all the beneficial schemes run by the Legal Services Authority.

During the last hearing in the Supreme Court, NALSA had told that about 870 prisoners lodged in jails of 18 states and union territories want to appeal against their sentence through it after getting information about free legal aid. The Supreme Court is hearing the case related to increase in the number of prisoners in the jail, in this case the above instructions have been issued.