ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI P.P.CHAUDHARY)
(a) & (b) A statement showing State/UT-wise and year-wise total number of eligible persons provided free legal services during the last three calendar years and the current year 2016 (upto 31.03.2016) is at Annexure-A.
(c) In terms of Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, the following persons are entitled to free legal services irrespective of their economic or social status:
(a) a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribes;
(b) a victim of trafficking in human beings or begar as referred to in article 23 of the Constitution;
(c) a woman or a child;
(d) 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 (1 of 1996);
(e) a person under circumstances of undeserved want such as being a victim of a mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster; or
(f) an industrial workman; or
(g) in custody, including custody in a protective home within the meaning of clause (g) of section 2 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, or a 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);
(h) a person in receipt of annual income less than rupees one lakh (in some States Rs. 50,000/-) if the case is before a court other than the Supreme Court, and less than Rs. 1,25,000/-, if the case is before the Supreme Court.
(d) All the eligible persons are provided free legal services through competent panel Advocates under the NALSA (Free and Competent Legal Services) Regulations, 2010. For the purpose, in every State, a State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) and in every High Court, a High Court Legal Services Committee have been constituted. District Legal Services Authorities and Taluk Legal Services Committees have been constituted in the Districts and most of the Taluks to provide free legal services to the eligible people.
Further, District Legal Services Authorities have appointed Advocates to represent the persons produced in custody in all Courts of Magistrates. During trial, it is the duty of the trial Court to ensure that no accused person whether in custody or on bail remains unrepresented by counsel. All accused in custody and those on bail who do not have a counsel are referred to the concerned Legal Services Institution for appointment of a counsel at State expense.
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Annexure -''A''
Statement as referred to in Reply to Part (a) & (b) of the Lok Sabha unstarred Question No. 33 for 16.11.2016 regarding free legal services by NALSA.
State/UT-wise and Year-wise number of eligible persons provided Free Legal Services during the last three calendar years and the current year 2016 (Based on the information made available by State Legal Services Authorities (SLSAs).
S.No Name of the State Authority 2013 2014 2015 2016 (upto March, 2016)
1 Andhra Pradesh 4,536 4,123 3,674 883
2 Arunachal Pradesh 23 57 155 92
3 Assam 21,911 2,313 1,156 220
4 Bihar 1,911 694 2,517 2,086
5 Chhattisgarh 62,548 49,230 43,410 11,098
6 Goa 812 1,034 1,060 307
7 Gujarat 8,050 10,173 12,004 3,296
8 Haryana 7,191 8,954 9,380 2,390
9 Himachal Pradesh 1,359 1,551 1,655 395
10 Jammu & Kashmir 1,120 4,927 2,288 453
11 Jharkhand 1,576 3,445 4748 1119
12 Karnataka 4,044 3,128 3,247 893
13 Kerala 8,802 11,754 14,933 2,587
14 Madhya Pradesh 45,645 23,606 49,305 8,990
15 Maharashtra 7,30,307 2,90,010 7,075 1,944
16 Manipur 16 67 81 31
17 Meghalaya 561 1,064 2,156 748
18 Mizoram 2,782 6,331 4,101 1,169
19 Nagaland 1,579 2,523 4,091 262
20 Odisha 4,422 3,960 3,321 802
21 Punjab 11,397 14,203 11,653 3,457
22 Rajasthan 5,860 6,748 7,247 1,997
23 Sikkim 685 848 1,016 283
24 Tamil Nadu 15,08,166 15,94,777 59,692 15,614
25 Telangana * 1,508 2,012 387
26 Tripura 1,475 2,154 2,179 610
27 Uttar Pradesh 2,541 1,736 1,283 7,781
28 Uttarakhand 598 730 1,098 228
29 West Bengal 5,706 7,310 14,398 4,958
30 A & N Islands 97 45 67 -
31 U.T. Chandigarh 721 963 1,223 321
32 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 2 961 1,168 7
33 Daman and Diu 245 200 - 16
34 Delhi 31,681 43,869 32,175 7,360
35 Lakshadweep - - - -
36 Puducheery 4,665 2,196 728 401
24,83,034 21,07,192 3,06,296 83,185
Note: * Telangana came into being in June 2014.
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