Union Government has nominated Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey, as the member of the National Legal Services Authority of India (Central Authority), constituted under Section 3 of the Legal Services Act, 1987.The notification to this effect was issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice (Department of Justice) on April 5, 2018, which states that the nomination has been made by the Central Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, Ministry of Law and Justice Department of Legal Affairs.Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey is presently Chairman of J&K High Court Legal Services Committee as well as Chairman, Juvenile Justice Committee, High Court of J&K.This is the first time that a Judge of the High Court from J&K has been nominated for the coveted and responsible position at the national level.Chief Justice of India Dipak Mishra is the Patron-in-Chief and Justice Ranjan Gogoi is the Executive Chairman of National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA). The notification was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii).The NALSA is tasked with multifarious functions including laying down policies, principles and schemes for making legal services available under the provisions of the Act and make appropriate allocations of funds to the State and District authorities.
Other important functions of the Central Authority include taking necessary steps by way of social justice litigation with regard to consumer protection, environmental protection and matters concerning weaker sections of the society, organizing legal aid camps especially in rural areas, slums or labour colonies with dual purpose of educating the weaker sections of the society as well as encouraging settlement of disputes through Lok Adalats by way of negotiations, arbitration and conciliation undertaking and promoting research in the field of legal services with special reference to the need for such services among the poor, monitoring and evaluating implementation of legal aid programmes, providing grants-in-aid for specific schemes to various voluntary social service institutions, developing programmes for clinical legal education and taking appropriate measures for spreading legal literacy and legal awareness among the people.The people associated with the legal fraternity are jubilant about this development, hoping that association of Justice Magrey with such a highly reputed national legal entity will ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen of the State by reason of economic or other disabilities.