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The law giving effect to Article 39A, creating NALSA and the Lok Adalat system so that no citizen is denied justice for want of money.
The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 is the central law that gives statutory shape to Article 39A of the Constitution, the Directive Principle requiring the State to secure equal justice and free legal aid. It creates a four-tier network of legal services institutions — the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) at the top, State Legal Services Authorities, District Legal Services Authorities and Taluk Legal Services Committees — and obliges them to provide free legal services to specified categories of people. It also gives statutory recognition to the Lok Adalat, a forum for settling disputes by compromise whose award is a decree of a civil court. The Act was passed in 1987 but was brought into force on 9 November 1995, the date NALSA was constituted; 9 November is now observed as National Legal Services Day.
Type: LawFour-tier structure — NALSA (national), SLSA (state), DLSA (district) and Taluk Legal Services Committees, plus Supreme Court and High Court Legal Services Committees
Section 12 lists who is entitled to free legal services — members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, women, children, victims of trafficking or begar, persons with disabilities, industrial workmen, persons in custody, victims of mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster, and any person whose annual income is below the prescribed ceiling
Lok Adalat — an alternative dispute resolution forum organised by the legal services authorities; it can take up pending court cases as well as pre-litigation disputes
Section 21 — a Lok Adalat award is deemed a decree of a civil court, is final and binding on all parties, and NO APPEAL lies against it to any court; court fees already paid are refunded
Permanent Lok Adalats — added by the 2002 Amendment (Sections 22A to 22E) for public utility services; unlike an ordinary Lok Adalat, a Permanent Lok Adalat can decide the dispute on merits even if conciliation fails
Leadership by the judiciary — the Chief Justice of India is Patron-in-Chief of NALSA, and a sitting Supreme Court judge serves as its Executive Chairman
Frequency: High — Lok Adalats and NALSA are staple topics in Prelims polity and in Mains GS-II questions on access to justice and judicial pendency
The legal aid movement in India began as an executive experiment before it became law. Committees under Justice P.N. Bhagwati and Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer through the 1970s pressed for organised legal aid, and the 42nd Amendment of 1976 inserted Article 39A into the Directive Principles. The Committee for Implementing Legal Aid Schemes (CILAS) ran legal aid on a non-statutory basis from 1980. Parliament passed the Legal Services Authorities Act in 1987, but it lay unenforced for eight years until it was brought into force on 9 November 1995. The 2002 Amendment added Permanent Lok Adalats for public utility services.
42nd Amendment inserts Article 39A — equal justice and free legal aid
Committee for Implementing Legal Aid Schemes (CILAS) set up under Justice P.N. Bhagwati
Legal Services Authorities Act passed by Parliament
Act brought into force; NALSA constituted — now National Legal Services Day
Amendment Act inserts Sections 22A-22E creating Permanent Lok Adalats for public utility services
Permanent Lok Adalat pecuniary jurisdiction raised from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore by notification
Legal aid and Lok Adalats run on two different tracks under the same Act — one delivers a lawyer, the other delivers a settlement.
Step 1 — Apply: an eligible person under Section 12 applies to the DLSA, SLSA or NALSA, or is referred by a court
Step 2 — Screen: under Section 13, services are granted if the authority is satisfied the applicant has a prima facie case to prosecute or defend
Step 3 — Assign: a panel advocate is provided free of cost, along with court fees, process fees and the cost of certified copies
Step 4 — Lok Adalat referral: a pending case may be referred to a Lok Adalat by the court, or by agreement of the parties, or a pre-litigation dispute may be brought directly
Step 5 — Conciliation: the Lok Adalat has no adjudicatory power in the ordinary form; it persuades parties towards a compromise and can only pass an award if they agree
Step 6 — Award: the award is deemed a civil court decree, is final, binding and non-appealable, and court fees paid are refunded. If no compromise is reached, the case returns to the referring court
| Aspect | Lok Adalat | Permanent Lok Adalat |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Sections 19-22 of the 1987 Act | Sections 22A-22E, inserted by the 2002 Amendment |
| When it sits | Organised periodically at intervals decided by the authority | A permanent standing body |
| Subject matter | Any compoundable dispute, civil or compoundable criminal | Disputes relating to public utility services only |
| Power on failure of conciliation | None — the case returns to the referring court | Can decide the dispute on merits, provided it is not an offence |
| Pecuniary limit | No prescribed ceiling | Up to Rs 1 crore (raised from Rs 10 lakh in March 2015) |
| Composition | Serving or retired judicial officer plus other persons as prescribed | District judge or higher as Chairman plus two members experienced in public utility services |
India's courts carry a pendency measured in crores of cases, and the people least able to wait are also the least able to pay. This Act is the constitutional answer to both problems at once: it converts a Directive Principle into an enforceable delivery system, and it diverts settlable disputes — motor accident claims, cheque bounce matters, matrimonial disputes, bank recovery, utility bills — away from regular courts into National Lok Adalats held across the country on a single day. Because the award is a decree with no appeal, a settled case is genuinely closed rather than merely postponed. The system's weaknesses are equally examinable: awareness among the eligible remains low, the quality of panel lawyers is uneven, and the pressure to settle in a mass Lok Adalat can push a weaker party into accepting less than a court would have given.
Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 gives effect to Article 39A (inserted by the 42nd Amendment, 1976)
Brought into force 9 November 1995 — NALSA constituted; National Legal Services Day
CJI is Patron-in-Chief of NALSA; a sitting Supreme Court judge is Executive Chairman
Four tiers: NALSA, SLSA, DLSA, Taluk Legal Services Committee
Section 12 = who gets free legal aid; Section 13 = prima facie case test
Section 21 = Lok Adalat award is a civil court decree, final, binding, NO appeal; court fee refunded
Permanent Lok Adalat (2002 Amendment, Sections 22A-22E): public utility services, can decide on merits, limit Rs 1 crore since 2015
Article 39A, a Directive Principle inserted by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976, which requires the State to secure equal justice and provide free legal aid so that no citizen is denied justice by economic or other disability.
Members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, women, children, victims of trafficking or forced labour, persons with disabilities, industrial workmen, persons in custody, victims of mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought or earthquake, and anyone whose annual income is below the prescribed ceiling.
No. Under Section 21 the award is deemed a decree of a civil court and is final and binding on all parties, and no appeal lies against it to any court. The only recourse is a writ petition on very limited grounds.
An ordinary Lok Adalat can only record a settlement the parties agree to and must send the case back to court if they do not. A Permanent Lok Adalat, which handles public utility service disputes, can decide the matter on merits even when conciliation fails.
On 9 November, marking the date in 1995 when the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 came into force and NALSA was constituted.