19th All India Legal Services Authorities Meet concludes at SKICC Srinagar

SRINAGAR : The two days 19th All India Legal Services Authorities meet organized by Jammu & Kashmir Legal Services Authority under the aegis of National Legal Services Authority concluded here today at SKICC here.

On the second day of the meet, five sessions were held under the chairmanship of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Executive Chairman NALSA and Judge Supreme Court of India.

The first session dealt with confirmation of the Minutes of the 18th All India Meet of State Legal Services Authority held at Jaipur, Rajasthan in July,2022. The session also deliberated upon the subject area of technology in Legal Services with a discourse on strengthening National Legal Aid Helpline -15100 and NALSA’s digital digital platform.

The second session focused on the subject area of Legal Aid to under trial prisoners (UTPs) with emphasis on strengthening legal services at pre-arrest, arrest and remand stage along with strengthening and monitoring of legal services in prisons and at police stations. The role of legal services authorities in rehabilitations of prisoners after release was also discussed in the session.

The third session extensively dealt with court based legal aid with subject area encompassing Legal Aid Defence Counsel System(LADCS), its existing status in States/UTs, selection criteria at various levels and office space and infrastructure relating to the system. A discussion was also held regarding resizing the panel of Legal Aid Counsels and the concept of Open Prisons and role of Legal Services institutions in context thereof.

In the fourth session, the subject area of legal empowerment and Eco-Justice was deliberated, discussions were focussed on need based and area specific legal services covering the subjects of “Reach-Out”, awareness and community participation in dispute resolution. The role of Legal Services institution in eco- justice was also discussed in this session. The fifth session exclusively dealt with the utilisation and audit of NALSA grants.

Pertinently, the 19th All India Legal Services Authorities Meet was inaugurated by Justice Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, Chief Justice of India in presence of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Judge Supreme Court of India & Executive Chairman NALSA; Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge Supreme Court of India & Chairman Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, Judges of Supreme Court of India, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Law and Justice; Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor UT of Jammu & Kashmir; Brig. Dr. BD Mishra, Lieutenant Governor UT of Ladakh; Justice N. Kotiswar Singh, Chief Justice High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh & Patron-in-Chief J&K Legal Services Authority; Justice Tashi Rabstan Judge High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh & Executive Chairman J&K Legal Services Authority and Ladakh and Judges of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh. D.C Raina Advocate General; Senior Advocates, Officers from the Civil Administration, Police department, Registry of Supreme Court and High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Judicial Officers, Prominent NGOs, Law students also, attended the inaugural function. The Meet was also attended by Chief Justices of High Courts, Executive Chairpersons State Legal Services Authorities, Chairpersons High Court Legal Services Committees, Member Secretaries SLSAs and Member Secretaries of HCLSCs.

The programme concluded with the valedictory session and concluding remarks by the chair.