Chief Justice Hon'ble Ravi Shanker Jha virtually inaugurated the offices of "Legal Aid Defense Counsel System" in 14 districts of Punjab today. In this regard, the Member Secretary informed that to make the legal aid delivery system more effective and result-oriented, the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has conceptualized the concept of Legal Aid Defense Counsel System, which is in the lines of the Public Defender System.
In the State of Punjab, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ravi Shanker Jha, Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court & Patron-in-Chief of Punjab State Legal Services Authority, today virtually inaugurated the offices of “Legal Aid Defense Counsel System" in 14 District Legal Services Authorities of Punjab namely Amritsar, Barnala, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Moga, Pathankot, Patiala, Rupnagar, Sri Muktsar Sahib & Tarn Taran in the august presence of Hon’ble Mr Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia, Executive Chairman, Punjab State Legal Services Authority, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Arun Palli and Hon’ble Ms. Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan.
While addressing the participants which included District & Sessions Judges, Secretaries, District Legal Services Authorities and the counsels who were engaged under "Legal Aid Defense Counsel System", Hon’ble Mr. Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia, Executive Chairman, Punjab State Legal Services Authority expounded that Punjab State Legal Services Authority provides legal services to those who are in custody or otherwise eligible for legal aid at all the stages i.e Pre-arrest, arrest, remand & appeal in criminal matters as per the criteria mentioned in Section 12 of Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.
His Lordship further highlighted that under Legal Aid Defense Counsel System, weaker and marginalized sections of the society will get timely and effective client consultation, enhanced responsiveness and accountability as the lawyers selected for Legal Aid Defense Counsel System cannot do their private practice.
The Legal Aid Defense Counsel System involves full time engagement of lawyers to deal with legal aid work in criminal matters which would increase availability, accessibility, effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of Legal Aid Defense Counsels. After assessing the requirement in these districts, total 86 counsels were engaged under the Legal Aid Defense Counsel System (LADCS) project in the 14 districts.
During virtual inauguration of Legal Aid Defense Counsel System, Sh. Ramesh Chander Dimri, Registrar General, Sh. Kamaljit Lamba, Registrar Vigilance, Sh. Manjinder Singh, Member Secretary, Punjab State legal Services Authority and Ms. Smriti Dhir, Additional Member Secretary, Punjab State Legal Services Authority, SAS Nagar, were also present.