Voluntary Disclosure as per RTI ACT

PUNJAB STATE LEGAL SERVICE AUTHORITY

The Legal Remembrancer also functions as Administrative Secretary of the Punjab State Legal Services Authority. The office of the aforesaid Authority is located at Site Number 126, Opposite GMADA Community Centre, Sector 69, SAS Nagar.

Hon'ble Mr. Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia, Acting Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court is the Patron-in-Chief and Executive Chairman of Punjab State Legal Services Authority. Executive Chairman is competent authority to take all the decisions as may be required on behalf of the Authority for providing legal aid to poor people and organization of seminars to make the people aware of the services provided by the Authority.

Ms. Mandeep Pannu, District & Sessions Judge-cum-Legal Remembrancer & Principal Secretary to Government of Punjab is the present Administrative Secretary of the Punjab State Legal Services Authority.

Sh. Manjinder Singh, District and Sessions Judge, is the Member Secretary of the Punjab State Legal Services Authority. The Member Secretary of the Punjab State Legal Services Authority is whole time employee of the State Government. All orders and decisions of the said Authority are authenticated by the Member Secretary.

The organizational chart of the above Authority is as under: -

Executive Chairman

!

!

Member Secretary

!

!

Addl. Member Secretary

!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

!                                             !                                          !

---------                                   ---------                           -----------

Superintendent Grade–I                Subordinate Staff                    Ministerial Staff

!

!

Secretary, District Legal Services Authority

(at each district With ministerial staff.)

The aforesaid Authority has been established by the Government of Punjab in the year 1990, initially with the name of Punjab State Legal Service Board to provide free legal aid to the persons who cannot afford the expenses to contest their cases in different courts. This Board was governed by the Punjab State Grant of Free Legal Service to the Poor Rules, 1990. Sh. Gurdev Singh, Joint Legal Remembrancer was the first Director of this Board. In the year 1996, the said Punjab State Legal Service Board was renamed as Punjab State Legal Service Authority and new rules were framed in the year 1996.

Legal Aid

The Authority provides free legal aid to the following categories of persons: -

• a member of a Schedule caste or Schedule Tribe;
• 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 disable person;
• a person under circumstance 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
• in custody (under trials and convicts in Jails)
• any person whose annual income is less than Rs. 3,00,000/-.

Lok Adalats

The Punjab State Legal Services Authority organizes Lok Adalats to secure the operation of the legal system and promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity. This authority has organized Mega/Special Lok Adalats, Monthly Lok Adalats and Permanent Lok Adalats at regular intervals in all the districts and sub-divisions of the State of Punjab. In these Lok Adalats, all the disputes are resolved through negotiated settlements with the involvement of Social Workers and Advocates etc.

Permanent Lok Adalat (Public Utility Services)

As per the provisions Legal Services Authorities Act (Amendment Act) 2002, 22 Permanent Lok Adalats (Public Utility Services) have been constituted at district level. Pre-litigative cases relating to Public Utility Services i.e. Transport services for the carriage of passengers or goods by Air, Road or Water; Postal, Telegraph or Telephone service; Supply of Power, Light or Water to the Public by any establishment; System of public Conservancy or Sanitation; Service in Hospital or Dispensary; Insurance services; Banking, Housing and Finance services are decided in these Lok Adalats. The pecuniary jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalat is Rs. One Crore/-

Legal Literacy Camps/Seminars

The Authority organizes legal literacy camps and Seminars at all districts in the State of Punjab every month. The Authority has also taken up the social cause like ‘Eradication of Female Foeticide and Drug-Addiction’. The authority organizes Legal Literacy Camps through the Assistant District Attorneys posted at various district and through various teams of Advocate and Para Legal Volunteers in the State of Punjab. They organize Legal Literacy Seminars in various villages and sub-divisions of their respective districts. These Seminars are organized to educate the general public to eradicate the social evils from the society as referred above and to make them legally literate.

Legal Aid Clinic

As per National Legal Services Authority (Legal Aid Clinics) Regulations 2011, Legal Aid Clinics are being established with the prime objective to make the Free Legal Services accessible to the poor, marginalized and weaker sections of the society. These Clinics are being manned by panel of Advocates and Para-Legal Volunteers who have been specially trained to provide competent legal services to the poor people.

Legal Aid Clinics are being set up even in remote villages to provide legal advice and services to the citizens who are not in position to engage a Counsellor approach Courts. This scheme has been designed to bring legal services to the doorsteps of the weaker sections of the society including women, children and members of S.C./S.T.

Objectives of Legal Aid Clinics

• To provide free legal advice.
• To spread legal literacy and legal awareness.
• To provide free legal services such as drafting the petitions, notices, applications, reply to the legal notices etc.
• To encourage amicable settlement of disputes through Lok Adalats and Mediation Centres.
• To settle the disputes through counselling in order to avoid litigation.
• To provide the free legal services of Advocates in complex legal matters.

Para Legal Volunteer Schemes

During the year 2009 National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) brought out a scheme called the Para-Legal Volunteers Scheme which aimed at imparting legal training to volunteers selected from different walks of life so as to ensure legal aid reaching all sections of people through the process of Para-Legal Volunteers Scheme; ultimately removing the barriers into access to justice. The Para-Legal Volunteers (PLVs) are expected to act as intermediaries bridging the gap between the common people and the Legal Services Institutions to remove impediments in access to justice. Ultimately, the process aims at Legal Services Institutions reaching out to the people at their doorsteps rather than people approaching such Legal Services Institutions. The western concept of 'Paralegals' cannot be totally adopted to Indian conditions having regard to illiteracy of large sections of the community: The hours of training as applicable to a regular academic course, cannot be adopted. It should be more like a bridge course conceptualised in a simple and need-based module. The PLVs have to be trained in the basics of different Laws which would be applicable at the grassroot level with reference to their day-to-day life, the subtle nuances employed in the working of a judicial system, and the functioning of various other stakeholders like the Police, officials from Social Welfare Department, Woman and Child Welfare Department and other departments dealing with different beneficial schemes of Central and State Governments including the protection officers involved with Domestic Violence and Juvenile Justice Acts. With the basic knowledge in the laws and other available welfare measures and legislation, they would be able to assist their immediate neighbourhood; Those who are in need of such assistance, so that a person, who is not aware of such right is not only made to understand his rights, but also will be able to have access to measures involving implementation of such rights. PLVs are not only expected to impart awareness on laws and the legal system, but they must also be trained to counsel and amicably settle simple disputes between the parties at the source itself; which could save the trouble of the affected travelling all the way to the Legal Services Authority/ADR Centres. If the dispute is of such a nature, which cannot be resolved at the source with the assistance of PLVs, they could bring such parties to the ADR Centres, where, with the assistance of the Secretary in charge either it could be referred to Lok Adalat or Mediation Centre or Legal assistance could be provided for adjudication in a court of law; depending upon the nature of problem. Though initially the NALSA Scheme of training of the PLVs included the legal fraternity of Advocates, Advocate community, later on experience revealed, the same to be unfeasible on account of conflict with the professional status of Advocates. The reality that marginalised people living in distant places will not have the benefit of lawyer PLVs also contributed to the practice being discontinued, and NALSA deciding that Advocates shall not be enlisted or engaged as PLVs. The past experience gained from the working of the system after 2009 and also ground realities ascertained from the paralegals in the respective jurisdiction showed us that there has to be a re-look into the entire matter and who best could fit the role of a Para Legal Volunteer. Initially, the training programme of PLVs was only for two-three days. Since the obligations of PLVs were vast in nature, it was felt, there has to be longer duration of training provided to the PLVs. At the same time, the training curriculum for PLVs adopted by NALSA cannot be such as to be training PLVs to become full-fledged lawyers. PLVs are not expected to conduct themselves as legal professionals. The aim of the training should concentrate on basic human qualities like compassion, empathy and a genuine concern and willingness to extend voluntary service without expectation of monetary gain from it. Then the line separating PLVs from professional lawyers should be zealously guarded.

GROUPS from whom Para-Legal Volunteers can be selected

• Teachers (including retired teachers)
• Retired Government servants and senior citizens.
• M.S.W students and teachers.
• Anganwadi Workers.
• Doctors/Physicians.
• Students & Law Students (till they enroll as lawyers).
• Members of non-political, service-oriented NGOs and Clubs.

Students Literacy Clubs in Government and Government Aided Colleges

As per the directions of NALSA, Legal Literacy Clubs are being established in Schools and Colleges to impart legal knowledge to students and to make them aware of their rights and aduties. The enlightened students would be the light house of Legal Literacy. Till date, PULSA has established 2258 Legal Literacy Clubs in Govt. and Govt. Aided Colleges/Govt and Govt. Aided School in the State of Punjab.

Administrative Set up

The Executive Chairman is competent to take all decisions which are required on behalf of the Punjab State Legal Services Authority. The Executive Authority of Punjab State Legal Services Authority has been vested in the Executive Chairman and is exercised through the Member Secretary who acts under the control of the Executive Chairman. All the matters requiring confirmation from the State Authority under the Act or the rules, all policy matters or any specific matters as may be directed by the Executive Chairman, are placed before the State Authority for its consideration and decision. All the decisions of the State Authority are taken by majority of the members present and voting and in case of tie, the person presiding over the meeting, have a second or casting vote.

The working in the Legal Services Authority is governed under the Punjab State Legal Services Authority Rules, 1996 as published in the Official Gazette vide Government of Punjab, Department of Legal and Legislative Affairs (Legal Aid Wing), Notification No. G.S.R. 63/C.A.39/87/S.28/96, dated the 19th September, 1996 . The transaction of business of the said Authority is governed under the Punjab Legal Services Authority (Transaction of Business and other Provisions) Regulations, 1998, which was published in the Official Gazette Vide Government of Punjab, Punjab Legal Services Authority, Notification No.G.S.R.32/C.A.39/87/S.29A/98, dated the 17th April, 1998.