Address at the Silver Jubilee Celebration of the Delhi Legal Services Authority 10 November 2006

JUSTICE FOR ALL IS A NOBLE MISSION

I am delighted to participate in the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA). My greetings to the legal experts, educators, law students, distinguished members, citizens and other participants.

DLSA profile

I am very happy to find with the object of providing Access to Justice to the citizens of the nation without economic or other disabilities, the DLSA has taken many initiatives such as: creation of 28 legal aid centers in different parts of Delhi, creation of 3 mobile legal services clinic, establishment of a 24 hours day and night permanent legal services clinic, promoting legal awareness through a documentary film ?Satyameva Jayathe? and organizing Lok Adalats from time to time for disposal of cases at pre-litigation stage itself. I congratulate all the members of High Court of Delhi for this unique accomplishment, particularly, for DLSA?s societal contributions during the 25 years.

TYPICAL EXPERIENCE OF DLSA

When we studied the DLSA website, it is indeed reassuring to know the successful settlement of more than 10,000 cases pertaining to north Delhi power Ltd, in the period Oct 2003 to July 2006, at the agies of DLSA, pre-litigation stage. I am sure many thousands of cases you would have resolved during the 25 years period for many citizens. Also I found that in Lokadalat during the month of July 2006, 336 cases have been taken up and 234 have been settled. It really reveals there is a potential to solve large number of cases at the pre-litigation stage itself. If necessary, DLSA can further augment the Lokadalat team so that more cases can be resolved. This experience of solving the problem before litigation is indeed a very important contribution of DLSA and a message for other courts in the country. Also I was very happy to find in the website about 17 identified advocates visiting different Jails regularly on fixed days of the week to help the poor and unrepresented inmates. Any jail inmate can seek aid and advice; file any bail/parole application; appeal(s) etc. through these Advocates.

DLSA?s Mission

How many citizens received legal aid in Delhi area? How many conflicts were resolved amicably without reaching a stage of litigation, particularly from the Day and Night Legal Services Clinic may be published in the form quarterly newsletter in multi languages. This will in turn spread the message on how the access to justice becomes effective through many social, benefactors drawn by Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA). This is essential to develop confidence among the people, so that more and more citizens will use the Day and Night Legal services Clinic facility created by DLSA.

Now I would like to share one experience about Jeevan Vidya which has been used for reforming the jail inmates.

Jeevan Vidya experience: Jeevan Vidya is being practiced by Prof Ganesh Bagaria, IIT, Kanpur, Prof Rajeev Sangal, Director IIIT (Hyderabad) and their teams. This team derives guidance from Baba Nagaraj of Chhatisgarh. This scheme is concerned about addressing the basic causes of major problems of violence, corruption, exploitation, domination, terrorism and war. It has been found that violent and anti-social behaviour, unless dealt with care and with professionalism, could aggravate the extreme behaviour. Jeevan Vidya develops tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty in human conduct by enabling self-knowledge that understands harmony in the self and in the entire existence. This process of imparting self-knowledge would promote a learning atmosphere, where this whole movement of inquiry into knowledge, into oneself, into the possibility of something beyond knowledge would bring about naturally a psychological revolution. From this comes inevitably a totally different order in human relationship and therefore society as a whole. The intelligent understanding of this process itself can bring about a profound change in the consciousness of mankind. The Jeevan Vidya team could bring about marked change among the inmates of jails through the use of these techniques. The team narrated to me, the change in attitude which took place among the group of Jail inmates in Bilaspur Jail, Madhya Pradesh, who underwent a 3 week Jeevan Vidya programme. I would suggest the members of DLSA to invite Jeevan Vidya Team for an interaction with the DLSA operational team.

DISPENSATION OF JUSTICE AT THE PRE-LITIGATIVE STAGE

On this occasion, I would also like to emphasize the important task cast upon the Bar and the judicial officers to translate these aspirations into practical realities for the welfare of the common man. The work needs to be taken up with the missionary zeal based on a totally humanitarian approach devoid of worthless hair splitting of legal jargon and canons of jurisprudence. The illustrious members of the Bar could help in resolving disputes and dispensing justice at the pre-litigative stage itself and that will be a boon not only to the people directly concerned but also to the society at large since this would certainly strike at the very root of the huge arrears of cases pending in our courts while ensuring speedy dispensation of justice. They could also educate the people in avoiding unnecessary litigation in their own interest. Of late, I have noticed a tendency among people to resort to frivolous litigation which is a sheer waste of society?s time and resources. I would earnestly request the Hon?ble members of the judiciary to come down very heavily on frivolous litigations in the interests of everyone in the society. In this direction, I am very happy that DLSA has made a movement on this, otherwise many of the disputes would have transformed into litigation.

NEED FOR LEGAL AWARENESS & PROVISION OF LEGAL AID

Allow me to make use of this opportunity to emphasize the urgent need to create a complete awareness among all sections of the society about the means available to them to seek justice and get it. Legal services should be for all, be they poor or rich, educated or under-educated, men or women or even children. Our society, like most others anywhere in the world, also has different sections ? the privileged, the under privileged, the poor, the handicapped, etc. Women, have been mostly at the receiving end in our social system and I am happy to note that of late there is a special and keen sense of awareness about the plight of women and the need to bring in laws to ameliorate their sufferings. Quite a few legislations have been brought into force with this specific end in view as also bodies like National Commission for Women have come into being. Such developments have come in not a day too late. I sincerely hope that they serve the underlying purpose for which they have been brought into being.

ASSISTING CHILDREN

Children are a section of our society and they need assistance particularly in the under privileged category. They are exploited with bestial cruelty by adults whose bounden duty is to ensure the welfare of these citizens of tomorrow. It is such exploitation like child labour and child abuse that gives rise to juvenile delinquency and it is essential that even the children should be made aware of their legal rights and that justice would be available to them for the asking. Deterrent punishment for such inhuman exploitation of children should be built in and implemented without any mercy or laxity. I would even go to the extent of suggesting that the school and college syllabi should include appropriate lessons that would help inculcate in the students the basic knowledge about provisions of law that would protect them and the basic means and safeguards available against their exploitation.

LITIGATION FREE VILLAGES

Recently, I visited Deendayal Research Institute in Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh. There I found that the institute is facilitating a cohesive conflict free society. As a result of this, I understand that the eighty villages around Chitrakoot are almost litigation free. The villagers have unanimously decided that no dispute will find its way to the court. The differences will be sorted out amicably in the village itself. This has happened because of the inspirational leadership at Chitrakoot. This movement has to be encouraged in the rural areas by different State Governments and members of Legal Services Authority. Now I would like to share with you few examples of informal legal aid which I have seen in my childhood and later in one of the states.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION THROUGH HUMAN TOUCH

During 1940?s, when I was a school boy, every day after the evening namaz, my father used to come back and sit outside where 10 to 20 families or at times individuals would come to my father and tell their problems on land and house disputes, marriage conflicts and issues involving forsaking of elderly parents. They will get a solution from my father within two or three days. In a similar way, my mother used to meet many womenfolk on Fridays. They will seek her advice. My elder brother himself was Panchayat Court President. The court had five good human beings from various walks of life and with one State Government representative. In those days, caste system was not visible at all in that region. I used to see many disputes of human life being settled in our own rural environment. Only if the disputes are not settled at these two levels they used to resort to higher courts. After 1970s, all these systems with human touch vanished and most of these disputes are going to courts. I feel, since the Panchayat environment is emerging in rural areas, the judicial system at the Panchayat level also can take a shape with the same type of human touch.

NETWORKING OF EXPERIENCES

During my visits to various High Courts of the country, I have found operation of legal aid clinics, mobile legal aid clinics, mobile legal aid and Lok Adalats, mediation and conciliation courts and students legal literacy clubs. I would suggest the Delhi Legal Service Authority to take the initiative of networking all these legal aid clinics, Lok Adalats and Legal Literacy Clubs.

CONCLUSION

Every society has laws in one form or another. The ultimate aim of all such laws is to ensure that every individual gets what is his rightful and righteous share in all fields of human existence. Denial of that right would amount to negation of the very logic of civilized existence and as such it is imperative that such justice should be available all speedily, efficiently and without having to sweat it out and paying through their noses. The great Roman philosopher Cicero said that the people?s good was the highest law and that the welfare of the people was the ultimate law. Nothing could express this unassailable truth more eloquently than these few words.

Laws and justice are two different things. We often confuse between the two. Laws are a means for dispensation of justice, a means to an end and interpretation of any law that does not bestow justice is not a boon but a curse. I am sure our judicial system recognizes this fact and I hope that without losing anymore time, our democratic polity will evolve means and methods to ensure that such justice contemplated by our Constitution and facilitated through the myriad laws that our Parliament has made, is dispensed most speedily, thus giving a wide berth to the not unfounded allegation that it takes years for the final interpretation of laws in cases that are piling up in the various courts of the country, virtually bringing the aphorism that justice delayed is justice denied. I am extremely happy that the Delhi Legal Services Authority has been trying its level best and succeeding to a very large extent in making its motto of ?Access to Justice to All? an absolute reality. May similar Authorities in other areas of our country be set up where they are not there now and may the concept of ?justice to all? be realised in its total depth and content by all sections of society in their own interest and in the interest of the nation at large. There is hope for the future.

My greetings to all the members of Delhi Legal Service Authority during the Silver Jubilee Celebrations and my best wishes in your mission of providing Access to Justice to all the members of the society.

May God bless you.