Legal Services includes the rendering of any service in conducting of any case or other legal proceedings before any Court or other Authority or Tribunal and giving of advice on any legal matter.

Conducting legal literacy camps in different parts of the State with a view to spread consciousness about the legal rights and duties of the citizens.

Organizing Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes which are pending or which are yet to be filed.

a) Legal advice by a legal practitioner

b) Representation on behalf of entitled person in any legal proceedings.

c) Payment to the entitled person or on his behalf:

1. (i) Of court fee
2. (ii) Of process fee and expenses of witnesses
3. (iii) Of charges for preparation of paper book, including charges for printing and translation of documents
4. (iv) Of charges for the supply of certified copies of judgments and other documents
5. (v) Of any amount on any other account in any legal proceedings.

No. The following category of people are entitled to get legal aid:

• A member of Schedule Caste / Schedule Tribe
• A victim of Trafficking in human being or begar as referred to Article 22 of the Constitution
• A woman or child a person with disability as defined in clause (i) of Section 2 of the Persons with disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.

Clause (I) of Section 2 of said Disabilities Act 1995 defines 'Disability' as under:

(I) blindness; (ii) low vision; (iii) leprosy-cured; (iv) hearing impairment; (v) locomotor disability; (vi) mental retardation; (vii) mental illness;

• a person under circumstances of under served 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
• 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
• in receipt of annual income less than Rs. 1,00,000/-(Rupees One Lakh) Per Annum
• (person who satisfy all or any of the criteria specified above shall be entitled to receive legal services, provided that the concerned authority is satisfied that such persons has a prima facie case to prosecute or defend)

No. with regard to the income certificate when a person is getting free legal aid on income criteria , an affidavit made by a person as to his income is sufficient for making him eligible, unless the concerned authority has reason to disbelieve such affidavit.

    Yes, A photo copy of Caste Certificate is essential.

Yes. Legal Aid will not be given for the following cases:

Proceedings wholly or partly in respect of

• defamation or
• malicious prosecution; or
• a person charged with contempt of court; and
• perjury

 Proceedings relating to any election

 Proceedings incidental to any of the above proceedings

 Proceedings in respect of offenses where the fine imposed is not more than Rs.50/-

 Proceedings in respect of economic offenses and offenses against social laws, such as the Protection of Civil Rights Act,1955 and

 the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act,1956 unless in such cases the aid is sought by the victim.

However, even in above cases, the Chairman of the SCLSC can, in an appropriate case, direct that legal aid be granted).

Proceedings where a person seeking legal aid or advice is concerned with the proceeding only in a representative or official capacity or If a formal party to the proceedings, not materially concerned in the outcome of the proceedings and his interests are not likely to be prejudiced on account of the absence of proper representation.

At any stage legal aid can be obtained, even in per-litigation stage.

If a person wants to have free legal aid/advice he can approach the nearest;

• Taluk Legal Services Committee which is in the premises of the Court in that Taluk;
• District Legal Services Authority which is in the premises of the District Court in District headquarters.
• High Court Legal Services Committee which is in the premises of High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad in Hyderabad.
• A person who needs free legal aid/advice and satisfies the eligibility criteria shall approach the above bodies with an application along with relevant supporting documents.

At Taluk Level:

Senior most Judge of that station as Chairman of the concerned Taluk Legal Services Committee.

At District Level:

Principal District Judge of the District as Chairman of the concerned District Legal Services Authority as Chairman.

The Judicial Officer in the cadre of Senior Civil Judge posted as Secretary of the concerned District Legal Services Authority.

At High Court Level:

Senior most Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad who have been nominated by the Hon'ble Chief Justice will be the Chairman.

The Judicial Officer in the cadre of District Judge who have been appointed by the Hon'ble Chief Justice will be the Secretary.

No. Not at all. All eligible persons can approach the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee for necessary legal services in Supreme Court.

You can approach the SCLSC in two situations:

- When you need to file (or) defend a case in the Supreme Court. This would include:

Appeals / Special Leave Petitions, Civil or Criminal, against an order of the High Court.

Petition for violation or enforcement of your fundamental right. This includes:

Habeas Corpus petitions, where a close friend or relative is missing or illegally taken away and whose whereabouts you do not know; petitions challenging the legality of government action or inaction; petitions challenging the legality of a legislation or order of government that violates your fundamental right; Petition for transferring a case, civil or criminal, pending in one State to another State within India .

- When you need LEGAL ADVICE regarding your problem.

Yes. Legal Aid will not be given for the following cases:

Proceedings wholly or partly in respect of

• defamation or
• malicious prosecution; or
• a person charged with contempt of court; and
• perjury

 Proceedings relating to any election

 Proceedings incidental to any of the above proceedings

 Proceedings in respect of offenses where the fine imposed is not more than Rs.50/-

 Proceedings in respect of economic offenses and offenses against social laws, such as the Protection of Civil Rights Act,1955 and

 the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act,1956 unless in such cases the aid is sought by the victim.

However, even in above cases, the Chairman of the SCLSC can, in an appropriate case, direct that legal aid be granted).

Proceedings where a person seeking legal aid or advice is concerned with the proceeding only in a representative or official capacity or If a formal party to the proceedings, not materially concerned in the outcome of the proceedings and his interests are not likely to be prejudiced on account of the absence of proper representation.

For legal aid, if you satisfy the first eligibility criteria, you need to take the following steps:

1. Make an application for legal aid to the SCLSC. The forms for these can be obtained in person or through post or e-mail from the SCLSC at the address indicated below or from any of the nearest Taluk/District/State/High Court Legal Services Committees.

2. You have to submit the completed application form to the SCLSC along with full documentation. For instance, if you seek to file an appeal against the order of a High Court, you are required to submit a copy [preferably certified] of the order of the High Court, copies of orders, if any, of the courts below the High Court, copies of all the papers filed in your case before the lower court and High Court, comments of the lawyer on the judgment. If these are in a language other than English, please send the translated copies.

Please note that there is no fee or charge for obtaining the application form.

For obtaining legal advice, you can call at the office of the SCLSC on any working day between 10.30 a.m. and 5 p.m.. Or you could send query by post, for which you would receive a reply within fifteen days. If the query is sent by e-mail, you could expect a reply sooner. Again, there are no charges for legal advice.

The SCLSC is headed by a Judge of the Supreme Court of India and has distinguished members nominated by the Chief Justice of India.

The SCLSC has a panel of competent Advocates-on-Record with certain minimum number of 5 years of experience who handle the work of screening papers and handling the cases in the Supreme Court. In addition, the SCLSC has a full-time Legal Consultant-cum-Executive Lawyer who handles queries - both in person as well as through post. The Legal Consultant also screens papers. Although the applicant cannot get a lawyer of his or her choice, the SCLSC ensures that only competent lawyers are entrusted with these cases.

Your papers will be screened in order to determine that the eligibility criteria are satisfied. Normally, within fifteen days of the receipt of your papers, you will be informed of the decision of the SCLSC, in writing, either granting or refusing legal aid.

If you are aggrieved by an order of refusal, you could appeal to the Chairman of the SCLSC

you will be sent an affidavit and vakalatnama by the SCLSC which will have to be signed by you and sent back to the SCLSC by post. The affidavit has to be attested by a notary or commissioner of oaths. You may need to pay not more than five rupees for this.

However, if you are in jail, the affidavit and the vakalatnama have to be countersigned by the jail superintendent. In addition he has to give a certificate of detention in the prescribed format, which will also be sent to you by the SCLSC. This has to be returned at the earliest to the SCLSC with the affidavit and vakalatnama.

Meanwhile, your case will be assigned to an advocate-on-record [AOR] on the panel of the SCLSC. The AOR will draft the petition and file it in the Supreme Court after the signed vakalatnama and the signed and attested affidavit [and the certificate if you are in jail] are received by the SCLSC.

The AOR who is assigned the case will argue it on your behalf in the Supreme Court. In exceptional cases, if you make a request in this behalf and if the SCLSC feels it is justified, a senior advocate can be requested to appear on your behalf. No fees is required to be paid by you for this purpose.

You will be informed by the SCLSC of the name of the AOR and you will receive intimation through post on the progress of your case from time to time.

You will also be sent copies of all the documents filed on your behalf and by the opposite parties and you will be intimated from time to time if there is any other information you are required to provide.

You will be informed of the outcome of your case and given copies of the relevant orders passed by the court.

Barring the cost of getting the affidavit attested [and even this is not applicable if you are in jail] and postage for sending papers to the SCLSC, you are not required to pay anything for any of the above services. They are absolutely free. The lawyers on the panel of the SCLSC are paid an honorarium of Rs. 2000/- per case by the SCLSC itself.

The Secretary

Supreme Court Legal Services Committee,

109, Lawyers' Chambers, Supreme Court Compound,

New Delhi-110 001

Ph.Nos.23388313, 23073970, 23381257

e-mail : sclsc@nic.in

Legal Services Authority spreads legal literacy by:

1. Organizing Legal Literacy Camps;

2. organizing Workshops on Legal topics;

3. providing Law Literature to the public in the regional language at low cost by publishing books on various subjects of law written by experts in the field;

4. creating awareness about the law of the land amongst general public by utilizing mass media like Radio, Television and the like.

Legal Services Authority welcomes all individuals and NGOs who are willing to involve themselves in the above mentioned activities of the Authority as it would go along way in achieving the aims and objectives of the Authority.

Lok Adalat is an alternative mode of dispute settlement. A Lok Adalat Bench will be constituted at Supreme Court level, High Court level and District court level and Taluq court level for purpose of amicably settling the dispute between two parties.

In every Lok Adalat minimum two conciliators function. One of them is a sitting or retired judicial officer and other conciliator shall be an Advocate or Social Worker or both.

Any case at pending and pre-litigation stage except non-compoundable offenses

a) There is no court fee and if court fee is already paid the amount will be refunded if the dispute is settled in Lok Adalat.

b) The parties to the dispute can directly interact with the Judge through their counsel which is not possible in regular court of law.

c) The basic feature of Lok Adalat is informal procedural and speedy justice.

d)The Award passed by the Lok Adalat is binding on the parties and it has the status of a decree of a civil court and it is non-appealable.

e) The original Award shall form part of the Judicial records.

f)The Award can be executable as in the case of Civil matters.

a) Powers are as vested in a Civil Court under C.P.C.

b) Summoning and enforcing the attendance of any witness and examining him on oath;

c) The discovery and production of any document;

d) The reception of evidence on affidavits;

e) Summoning of any public record or document or copy of such record or document from any court or office.

Permanent Lok Adalat means a Permanent Lok Adalat established under sub-section (1) of Section 22-B of the Legal Services Authorities Act,1987 to settle dispute, before the dispute is brought before any court of law pertaining to Public Utility Services as defined in the Act, Rules as the case may be.

Every Permanent Lok Adalat established for an area will have a District Judge as Chairman and two other persons having adequate experience in public utility services to settle the disputes brought before it.

Every Award made by the Permanent Lok Adalat be final and binding on all the parties thereto.

Every Award of the Permanent Lok Adalat shall be deemed to be a decree of a civil court.

Every Award of the Permanent Lok Adalat shall be final and shall not be called in question in any original suit, application or execution proceeding.

The Permanent Lok Adalat may transmit any Award made by it to a Civil Court having jurisdiction and such Civil Court shall execute the order as if it was a decree made by that Court.

a) Transport service for the carriage of passengers or goods by air, road or water; or

b) Postal, telegraph or telephone service; or

c) Supply of power, light or water to the public by any establishment; or

d) System of public conservancy or sanitation; or

e) Service in hospital or dispensary; or

f) Insurance service; or

g) Banking and Financial institutions

h) MGNREGA

i) Education or Educational Institutions

j) Housing and Real Estate Service

Mediation is a negotiation process in which a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in resolving their disputes. A Mediator uses special negotiation and communication techniques to help the parties to come to a settlement. The parties can appoint a Mediator with their mutual consent or a mediator can be appointed by the Court in a pending litigation. Mediation always leaves the decision making power with the parties. A Mediator does not decide what is fair or right, does not apportion blame, nor renders any opinion on the merits or chances of success if the case is litigated. Rather, a mediator acts as a catalyst to bring the two disputing parties together by defining issues and limiting obstacles to communication and settlement.

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF MEDIATION :

1. COURT- REFERRED MEDIATION- It applies to cases pending in Court and which the Court would refer for mediation under Sec. 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

2. PRIVATE MEDIATION - In private mediation, qualified mediators offer their services on a private, fee-for -service basis to the Court, to members of the public, to members of the commercial sector and also to the governmental sector to resolve disputes through mediation. Private mediation can be used in connection with disputes pending in Court and pre-litigation disputes.

ADVANTAGES OF MEDIATION

1. The parties have CONTROL over the mediation in terms of

1) its scope (i.e., the terms of reference or issues can be limited or expanded during the course of the proceedings) and

2) its outcome ( i.e., the right to decide whether to settle or not and the terms of settlement.)

a) Mediation is PARTICIPATIVE. Parties get an opportunity to present their case in their own words and directly participate in the negotiation.

b) The process is VOLUNTARY and any party can drop it at any stage if he feels that it is not helping him. The self-determining nature of mediation ensures compliance with the settlement reached.

c) The procedure is SPEEDY, EFFICIENT and ECONOMICAL.

d) The procedure is SIMPLE and FLEXIBLE. It can be modified to suit the demands of each case. Flexible scheduling allows parties to carry on with their day-to-day activities.

e) The process is conducted in an INFORMAL, CORDIAL and CONDUCIVE environment.

f) Mediation is a FAIR PROCESS. The mediator is impartial, neutral and independent. The mediator ensures that pre-existing unequal relationships, if any, between the parties, do not affect the negotiation.

g) The process is CONFIDENTIAL. Chapter - III Mediation Training Manual of India 1 9

h) The process facilitates better and effective COMMUNICATION between the parties which is crucial for a creative and meaningful negotiation.

i) Mediation helps to maintain/ improve/ restore relationships between the parties.

j) Mediation always takes into account the LONG TERM AND UNDERLYING INTERESTS OF THE PARTIES at each stage of the dispute resolution process - in examining alternatives, in generating and evaluating options and finally, in settling the dispute with focus on the present and the future and not on the past. This provides an opportunity to the parties to comprehensively resolve all their differences.

k) In mediation, the focus is on resolving the dispute in a MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL WAY.

l) A mediation settlement often leads to SETTLING OF RELATED/ CONNECTED CASES between parties.

m) Mediation allows CREATIVITY in dispute resolution. Parties can accept creative and non conventional remedies which satisfy their underlying and long term interests, even ignoring their legal entitlements or liabilities.

n) When the parties themselves sign the terms of settlement, satisfying their underlying needs and interests, there will be compliance.

o) Mediation PROMOTES FINALITY. The disputes are put to rest fully and finally, as there is no scope for any appeal or revision and further litigation.

p) REFUND OF COURT FEES is permitted as per rules in the case of settlement in a court referred mediation.

The functions of a mediator are to -:

(i) facilitate the process of mediation; and

(ii) assist the parties to evaluate the case to arrive at a settlement