Question : Nyaya Mitra Scheme

(a) whether the Government has initiated Nyaya Mitra Scheme in the country including Maharashtra, if so, the details and the aims and objectives thereof indicating the number and particulars of cases disposed off under the said scheme, State/UT-wise including Maharashtra;
(b) whether the Government has taken any step to extend the scheme to other States of the country;
(c) if so, the details thereof along with the timeline, if any, set for this purpose;
(d) whether the scheme has achieved the objective for which it was set up and if so, the details thereof indicating the names of the States where it has been implemented; and
(e) the other steps taken by the Government to provide free legal advice to the marginalized people?

MINISTER OF LAW & JUSTICE
(SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a) to (d) Yes, Sir. Nyaya Mitra aims to facilitate expeditious disposal of decade old pending cases in High Courts and Subordinate Courts. Since April 2017, a total number of 27 Nyaya Mitras were engaged inthe States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Odisha and Maharashtra whoassisted the courtsconcernedin disposal of 2019old cases.The State-wise details of case disposal by Nyaya Mitra is at Annexure-A. No fresh Nyaya Mitra could be engaged during the year 2020-2021 due to closure of courts and social distancing protocols caused by Covid pandemic.80 Nyaya Mitras will be engagedacross the country from 2021-2026.Nyaya Mitras who were engaged have helped in disposal of 2019 old cases, which include civil cases such as matrimonial cases, accident claim cases and also criminal cases.
(e) The Legal Services Authorities (LSA) Act, 1987 provides free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society including beneficiaries covered under Section 12 of the Act to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities, and to organize LokAdalats to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunities.
For this purpose, the legal services institutions have been setup from the Taluk Court level to the Supreme Court. During the period from April, 2021 to September, 2021, 3.10 lakhs persons have been provided with free legal services and 75.41 lakhs cases (pending in courts and disputes at pre-litigation stage) have been settled through LokAdalats.
In addition, the Government has launched Nyaya Bandhu (Pro-bono Legal Services) programme to link the persons eligible to avail free legal aid under Section 12 of LSA Act, 1987 with the pro-bono lawyers. 3603 pro bono advocates have been registered under the programme and 1448 cases have been registered by the beneficiaries. Tele-law programme, being run by the Government across 669 districts in 36 States/UTs provides legal advice to public including persons entitled for free legal aid under Section 12 of LSA Act, 1987, at pre-litigation stage by the Panel Lawyers through 75,000 Common Service Centre (CSC) at the Panchayats. Tele-law has enabledadvice to more than 12.5 lakh beneficiaries till date.
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Annexure-A
Statement as referred to in reply to Part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3248 for 17.12.2021 raised by Dr.SujayRadhakrishnaVikhePatil, Dr. HeenaGavit, Dr.ShrikantEknathShinde, Shri DhairyasheelSambhajirao Mane, Shri UnmeshBhaiyyasahebPatil
A State-wise Statement containing number of cases disposed off
by Nyaya Mitra
S.No State No. of cases disposed off
1 Bihar 44
2 Maharashtra 313
3 Odisha 169
4 Rajasthan 1360
5 Uttar Pradesh 111
6 West Bengal 22
Grand Total 2019