Legal Aid And Beyond: The Role Of Pro Bono Work In India’s Justice Landscape

Oishi Ghosh, Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College, University of Calcutta

ABSTRACT

Firstly, in order to examine and understand the entire topic, we need to get through the meaning of the word Pro Bono which is the soul of the entire topic. The word Pro Bono is derived from the Latin phrase ‘Pro Bono Publico’ which means ‘for the public good’. In the Legal field, it basically means to render professional services and grant relief to the people who are not financially stable, for a free of cost or at a minimum cost. In a diverse country like India, this concept is much helpful as keeping in mind the level of poverty and the increasing graph of crimes, it would actually be beneficial and would let everyone have a proper access to justice. The concept of Pro Bono practice is related to the concept of right to Free Legal Aid as enshrined in Article 39A1 of the Indian Constitution. Both of these concepts have the same motive that is to provide equal justice to all the citizens irrespective of any kind of discrimination be it financial backwardness or disability or discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, race, or religion. This concept even has its relevance in a Landmark judgement of the Supreme Court of India in the year of 1979, that is the Hussainara Khatoon v. Home Secretary, State of Bihar2 in which the honourable Apex Court3 held that everyone has the right to speedy trial which is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 214 of the Indian Constitution and also everyone has a right to be represented by a legal practitioner of his or her choice that is everyone needs to be heard and has a right to fight for themselves and have equal access to the justice system.

In India a lot of provisions and policies have been adopted to inculcate the concept of Pro Bono practice like the establishment of National Legal Services Authority and State Legal Services Authorities. But the question arises here that whether only the adoption of these provisions are enough or not.

The main focus should be on the quality of the services rendered as well as the access of the services by the people. As in a country like India, there is huge gap between the uplifted class and the backward class therefore, it is always observed that in the legal field people with high power and position has more benefits when it comes to the quality of the service rendered than the others.

So here the essence of the concept depends on the Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility of an Advocate. Today most people get inclined towards the legal field because of monetary advantages and financial benefits, which then fades away the essence of professional responsibility and ethics.

Thus, in order to signify the actual meaning and essence of Pro Bono cases, there should be more focus on the quality of services rendered as well as on the Ethics of Legal Practice and the Professional Responsibility of a true Advocate who wears his attire to help the people to have a fair chance to fight for themselves and avail justice in its true sense.