CHANDGIARH: Ms. Justice Ritu Bahri, Judge Punjab and Haryana High Court and Executive Chairperson, State Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Chandigarh under the able guidance of Mr. Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Executive Chairman, NALSA and in the benign presence of Mr. Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal, Administrative Judge, Sessions Division, Chandigarh, inaugurated the Office of Legal Aid Defense Counsel at District Courts, Sector 43, Chandigarh.
As a way to provide qualitative and competent Legal services in a more professional way, NALSA has introduced the Legal Aid Defense Counsel System involving a full time engagement of lawyers with a support system and the said unit deals exclusively with legal aid work in criminal matters in line with “Public Defender System".
It is a mechanism which substitutes the existing Assigned Counsel System of delivery of Legal Aid for providing free and competent legal aid to needy litigants in criminal cases. The Office of Legal Aid Defense Counsel at Chandigarh consists of one Chief Legal Aid Counsel; three Deputy Chief Legal Counsels; four Assistant Legal Aid Counsels; and four ministerial staff members. Ms. Justice Ritu Bahri and Mr. Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal during the inaugural ceremony congratulated the selected Legal Aid Defense Counsels and encouraged them to work towards making the System a success. Justice Ritu Bahri said that since majority of undertrial prisoners belonged to marginalized and weaker sections, the LADCS would come to the rescue of needy and distressed persons in the , Chandigarh.
Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal said the LADCS would increase the accessibility of Legal Aid Defense Counsel, effective and efficient representation by them and ensure accountability on part of Legal Aid providers. Mr. Arunvir Vashista, Learned District and Sessions Judge, Chandigarh said the launch of Legal Aid Defense Counsel Office at Chandigarh is a significant step towards providing quality Legal aid services to those in need within the criminal justice system. Sh. Surender Kumar, Learned Member Secretary also provided an overview of the scheme and explained how the LADCS is superior to other Legal aid delivery systems.
The Counselling Centre at ADR Centre, Second Floor, District Courts, Sector 43, Chandigarh was also officially inaugurated. The said Centre, which is the brain child of Ms. Justice Ritu Bahri, had started functioning at ADR Centre since May, 2022. Since the setting up of Counselling Centre, 534 cases have been successfully settled by the Counsellors. The Counsellors of Counselling Centre, District Courts, Chandigarh also visited Model Jail, Chandigarh 16 times, every Thursday, in order to interact with convicts and undertrial prison to ascertain the psychological factors of causes behind commission of offences. The Counsellors interacted with inmates who are in conviction and undertrial facing charges in cases such as murder, rape, theft, POCSO, NDPS, etc. A total of 809 inmates were interviewed and it was observed that temperament/personalities and peer factors largely contributed to commission of offences.
During the said ceremony Justice Ritu Bahri also emphasized the need of dissemination of information regarding mobile application namely “Share and Salute Chandigarh”, which has been created by District Legal Services Authority, Chandigarh under the aegis of State Legal Services Authority, Chandigarh, as a part of social development initiative by forming teams of five Panel Advocates and five Students Para Legal Volunteers.
The mobile application would provide a platform for residents to upload their grievance by means of photo / video etc., for DLSA / Approved Adopters to resolve their problems. The Advocate / Approved Adopter shall note and resolve the issues by either forwarding them to the department concerned or by resolving the same at his own level.
Further, Justice Ritu Bahri asserted that vide publicity should also be given to 12 Social Welfare Schemes namely Widow Pension, Disability Pension, Destitute Women Pension Scheme, Inter Caste Marriage Benefit Scheme, etc., of Social Welfare Department, Chandigarh and which has been included in Public Utility Services whereby any person having any grievance in grant of said Schemes can approach PLA (PUS), ADR Centre, Sector 43, Chandigarh by giving a simple application.
During the inaugural ceremony Ms. Navjeet Klair, Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, UT, Chandigarh; Judicial Officers including Ms. Anshu Shukla and Sh. Narender, Learned Additional District & Sessions Judge, Chandigarh; Dr. Amaninder Singh, Learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Chandigarh; Sh. Manu Kukar, District Attorney, Chandigarh; and Sh. Shankar Gupta, President along with the Executive Members, District Bar Association, Chandigarh were also present.