Nyaya Bandhu Program

Why is in news? Free legal aid and advice through Nyaya Bandhu program

Under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authority Act 1987, applicants who are marginalized or disadvantaged including ST, SC, victims of trafficking or begging, women or children, PWDs, and other eligible categories, are entitled to get free legal aid & advice through Department of Justice’s Nyaya Bandhu program.

Nyaya Bandhu’s (Pro Bono Legal Services) primary initiative is to establish a framework for dispensation of pro bono legal services across the country.

Under Nyaya Bandhu, practising advocates, interested to volunteer their time and services, are connected, via mobile technology, with eligible marginalised beneficiaries.

Nyaya Bandhu Mobile application (Android/IOS) has been developed and also onboarded on the UMANG platform in collaboration with technical partner CSC e-Governance Pvt. Ltd.

In order to strengthen the Nyaya Bandhu network, Department of Justice proposed to set up and integrate pro bono panel of lawyers in each High Court (curated and moderated by the respective High Courts), within its Nyaya Bandhu programme.

It envisages integrating the Nyaya Bandhu programme within the institutional framework of the justice system in India, so as to ensure its optimum utilization and impact.

Nyaya Bandhu (Pro Bono Legal Services) Panel Framework at High Court:

Every High Court (through its Registrar General), invites applications from Advocates, practicing before the Hon’ble Court, and who are keen to volunteer pro bono legal services to the marginalized, to become part of the ‘Nyaya Bandhu panel’.

As part of this panel, the advocate is expected to render timely & quality pro bono advice to beneficiaries appearing before the respective High Court.

The implementation and moderation framework for this initiative is web based, with each High Court are provided with a unique login to register the names of the Nyaya Bandhu panel members.

This database is, simultaneously be embedded within the Nyaya Bandhu portal – thereby expanding its reach.

Once nominated to the panel, the concerned Advocate is required to complete his/her registration on the Dept. of Justice’s Nyaya Bandhu mobile application

Global practices:

In many countries, pro bono legal support has emerged as the dominant means of dispensing free representation to the poor.

Countries like the United States and South Korea require lawyers to provide pro bono services for stipulated duration per year.

Singapore has individual lawyers and corporate organizations like Hewlett Packard, Intel etc. providing pro bono services, which adopt the programme by committing legal services of their in-house attorneys, paralegals and staff to dedicate a portion of their time to engage with the community by participating in various pro bono activities.

In India, "Pro Bono Legal Service" as a concept has not gained much momentum.

Many lawyers, in their private sphere, provide poor and underprivileged clients with valuable legal advice and support without seeking professional fee.

It thus remains an ad hoc, individualized practice lacking an institutional structure.

Through this programme, the Government of India has, for the first time, initiated a programme to encourage the culture of pro bono lawyering in the country with the objective of institutionalizing the practice.