The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987

This Act may be called the Legal Services AuthoritiesAct, 1987. (2) It extends to the whole of India, 1***. (3) It shall come into force on such date2as the Central Government may, by notification, appoint;and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act and for different States, and anyreference to commencement in any provision of this Act in relation to any State shall be construed as areference to the commencement of that provision in that State.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, 1[(a) “case” includes a suit or any proceeding before a court; (aa) “Central Authority” means the National Legal Services Authority constituted undersection 3; (aaa) “court” means a civil, criminal or revenue court and includes any tribunal or any otherauthority constituted under any law for the time being in force, to exercise judicial or quasi-judicialfunctions;] (b) “District Authority” means a District Legal Services Authority constituted under section 9; 2[(bb) “High Court Legal Services Committee” means a High Court Legal Services Committeeconstituted under section 8A;] (c) “legal service” includes the rendering of any service in the conduct of any case or other legalproceeding before any court or other authority or tribunal and the giving of advice on any legalmatter; (d) “Lok Adalat” means a Lok Adalat organised under Chapter VI; (e) “notification” means a notification published in the Official Gazette; (f) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act; 2[(ff) “regulations” means regulations made under this Act;] (g) “scheme” means any scheme framed by the Central Authority, a State Authority or a DistrictAuthority for the purpose of giving effect to any of the provisions of this Act; (h) “State Authority” means a State Legal Services Authority constituted under section 6; (i) “State Government” includes the administrator of a Union territory appointed by the Presidentunder article 239 of the Constitution; 3[(j) “Supreme Court Legal Services Committee” means the Supreme Court Legal ServicesCommittee constituted under section 3A; (k) “Taluk Legal Services Committee” means a Taluk Legal Services Committee constitutedunder section 11A.] (2) Any reference in this Act to any other enactment or any provision thereof shall, in relation to anarea in which such enactment or provision is not in force, be construed as a reference to the correspondinglaw or the relevant provision of the corresponding law, if any, in force in that area.

1[3. Constitution of the National Legal Services Authority.(1) The Central Government shallconstitute a body to be called the National Legal Services Authority to exercise the powers and performthe functions conferred on, or assigned to, the Central Authority under this Act. (2) The Central Authority shall consist of (a) the Chief Justice of India who shall be the Patron-in-Chief; (b) a serving or retired Judge of the Supreme Court to be nominated by the President, inconsultation with the Chief Justice of India, who shall be the Executive Chairman; and (c) such number of other members, possessing such experience and qualifications, as may beprescribed by the Central Government, to be nominated by that Government in consultation with theChief Justice of India. (3) The Central Government shall, in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, appoint a person tobe the Member-Secretary of the Central Authority, possessing such experience and qualifications as maybe prescribed by that Government, to exercise such powers and perform such duties under the ExecutiveChairman of the Central Authority as may be prescribed by that Government or as may be assigned tohim by the Executive Chairman of that Authority. (4) The terms of office and other conditions relating thereto, of members and the Member-Secretaryof the Central Authority shall be such as may be prescribed by the Central Government in consultationwith the Chief Justice of India. (5) The Central Authority may appoint such number of officers and other employees as may beprescribed by the Central Government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, for the efficientdischarge of its functions under this Act. (6) The officers and other employees of the Central Authority shall be entitled to such salary andallowances and shall be subject to such other conditions of service as may be prescribed by the CentralGovernment in consultation with the Chief Justice of India. (7) The administrative expenses of the Central Authority, including the salaries, allowances andpensions payable to the Member-Secretary, officers and other employees of the Central Authority, shallbe defrayed out of the Consolidated Fund of India. (8) All orders and decisions of the Central Authority shall be authenticated by the Member-Secretaryor any other officer of the Central Authority duly authorised by the Executive Chairman of that Authority. (9) No act or proceeding of the Central Authority shall be invalid merely on the ground of theexistence of any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of, the Central Authority.

(1) The Central Authority shall constitute acommittee to be called the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee for the purpose of exercising such powers and performing such functions as may be determined by regulations made by the CentralAuthority. (2) The Committee shall consist of (a) a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court who shall be the Chairman; and (b) such number of other members possessing such experience and qualifications as may beprescribed by the Central Government, to be nominated by the Chief Justice of India. (3) The Chief Justice of India shall appoint a person to be the Secretary to the Committee, possessingsuch experience and qualifications as may be prescribed by the Central Government. (4) The terms of office and other conditions relating thereto, of the members and Secretary of theCommittee shall be such as may be determined by regulations made by the Central Authority. (5) The Committee may appoint such number of officers and other employees as may be prescribedby the Central Government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, for the efficient discharge ofits functions. (6) The officers and other employees of the Committee shall be entitled to such salary and allowancesand shall be subject to such other conditions of service as may be prescribed by the Central Governmentin consultation with the Chief Justice of India.]

The Central Authority shall 1*** perform all or any of thefollowing functions, namely: (a) lay down policies and principles for making legal services available under the provisions ofthis Act; (b) frame the most effective and economical schemes for the purpose of making legal servicesavailable under the provisions of this Act; (c) utilise the funds at its disposal and make appropriate allocations of funds to the StateAuthorities and District Authorities; (d) take necessary steps by way of social justice litigation with regard to consumer protection,environmental protection or any other matter of special concern to the weaker sections of the societyand for this purpose, give training to social workers in legal skills; (e) organise legal aid camps, especially in rural areas, slums or labour colonies with the dualpurpose of educating the weaker sections of the society as to their rights as well as encouraging thesettlement of disputes through Lok Adalats; (f) encourage the settlement of disputes by way of negotiations, arbitration and conciliation; (g) undertake and promote research in the field of legal services with special reference to the needfor such services among the poor; (h) to do all things necessary for the purpose of ensuring commitment to the fundamental dutiesof citizens under Part IVA of the Constitution; (i) monitor and evaluate implementation of the legal aid programmes at periodic intervals andprovide for independent evaluation of programmes and schemes implemented in whole or in part byfunds provided under this Act; 2[(j) provide grants-in-aid for specific schemes to various voluntary social service institutions andthe State and District Authorities, from out of the amounts placed at its disposal for theimplementation of the legal services schemes under the provisions of this Act;] (k) develop, in consultation with the Bar Council of India, programmes for clinical legaleducation and promote guidance and supervise the establishment and working of legal services clinicsin universities, law colleges and other institutions; (l) take appropriate measures for spreading legal literacy and legal awareness amongst the peopleand, in particular, to educate weaker sections of the society about the rights, benefits andprivileges guaranteed by social welfare legislations and other enactments as well as administrativeprogrammes and measures; (m) make special efforts to enlist the support of voluntary social welfare institutions working atthe grass-root level, particularly among the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, women andrural and urban labour; and (n) coordinate and monitor the functioning of 3[State Authorities, District Authorities, SupremeCourt Legal Services Committee, High Court Legal Services Committees, Taluk Legal ServicesCommittees and voluntary social service institutions] and other legal services organisations and givegeneral directions for the proper implementation of the legal services programmes.