By Salam Rupachandra
Indian Constitution lays the pavement for the common mass who may lack legal literacy and deprivation of equal justice to them. The makers of Indian Constitution are really indebted for their sharp vision in as much as the equality clause in the Constitution in respect of caste, creed, sex, religion etc shall not serve the intended purpose of being a welfare State if provision for equal justice through free legal aid for certain section of citizens is not provided.
Very rightly Article 39A of the Constitution provides as Directive Principles that the State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic and other reasons.
In the process of administration of justice through legal recourse, two factors have been indispensable. The two factors are impliedly the economy and literacy of the citizens. If both the factors are lacking in a citizen justice may hardly come to him in the form of a boon. For that only, the framers of the Constitution have laid down the provision for proper legislation or sche-mes or in any other way. As enshrined in the Directive Principles, the Parliament enacted the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, about four decades after Indian Independence in contemplating the Constitutional Provision.
While enacting ‘The Legal Services Authorities Act 1987’, it pinpoints its mission as an Act to constitute legal services authorities to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disability, and to organise Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunities.
Even now the country, in which an alarming high rate of cases are pending, has schemes of Lok Ada-lats and of Fast Track Co-urts. The extension of scheme of Fast Track Co-urts in the Country and so also of frequent sittings of Lok Adalats play a great role in ensuring to secure justice.
After the enactment and enforcement of Legal Services Authorities Act, there emerges the constitution of a body namely National Legal Services Authority consisting (a) The Chief Justice of India as Patron-in-chief, (b) a serving/ retired Judge of Supreme Court as Chairman, (c) a number of members of the prescribed qualification and (d) a Member Secretary who has the prescribed experience and qualification. Likewise Sta-te Legal Services Authority has also come into picture consisting of (a) Chief Justice of the concerned High Court as Patron-in-Chief, (b) a serving/ retired Judge of the High Court as Executive Chairman and (c) a Member Secretary of the prescribed experience and qualification. In the pyramidal structure of legal services authority there exists the Constitution of District Legal Services Au-thority and to the lowest as Taluk Legal Services Committee.
The ever fast changing society in all aspects due to the advancement of science, technology and com-puter age causes radical need of legislation of new and appropriate laws. It is not an easy task to make every citizen to give legal literacy and awareness about the old laws and new laws in the midst of economic backwardness and legal illiteracy. However, as provided by the Directive Principle and Legislation thereafter of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, now people may get fruits of the same. The quantum of getting the fruits shall entirely depend on the more and effective campaigns on legal literacy and awareness campaigns.
Various legal literacy programmes have been conducted in various parts of the State of Manipur. The most recent one was the legal literacy and awareness campaign held at Lairikyengbam Mayai Leikai to discuss and transact the role of Legal Aid in Access to Social Justice.
The Organiser was Imphal East District Legal Services Authority with cooperative hands of Hoc-key Union, Lairikyengbam Leikai, Mayai Leirak.
The said Awareness camp had covered three topics of old and new laws viz (i) Land Laws - by Shri K. Bipinchandra Sharma, Special Judge ND & PS, Manipur, (ii) Hindu Law - by Dr S Promodkanta Singh, Lecturer LMS, Law College, Imphal and (iii) Domestic Violence by A. Noutuneshwari Devi, Judicial Magistrate First Class & Civil Judge (Junior Division) Imphal.
The more need of such legal literacy and awareness campaigns are in demand since the speech delivered by the speakers well convinced the participants and followed by enthusiastic interaction thereof. Welcome address and key note addresses were respectively delivered by Shri Roland Keishing, Secretary, Imphal East District Legal Services Authority, Civil Judge Sr Division No. 1 Manipur East and Shri Th Sudhir Singh, Chairman, Imphal East District Legal Services Authority, District and Sessions Judge, Manipur East. The deliberations were with full of intending aims of the campaign.
It is impossible to cover the vast and wide scope of laws in such a legal literacy and awareness camp of a short duration. To accelerate people literacy about the free legal aid, social activities of different parts of the districts of Manipur and NGOs can take an effective and efficient role to get citizens avail more of free legal services and legal literacy. To make a legal literacy blind citizen know something and literate to a certain degree will surely amount to doing social services and rendering of certain rate of justice to the society.
The meaning of Welfare State is required to be interpreted by the mutual participation of the authority and citizens.
Source: The Sangai Express
