Anshuman Shreya, LL.M, Chanakya National Law University
ABSTRACT
The paper will deal with the Legal Aid being provided to the prisoners in Jail. The prisoners including the under trial prisoners, convicted prisoners, prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment and death sentence and the role of state and the Legal Services Authority of India in providing legal aid to these prisoners would be studied in the paper. The expression ‘legal aid’ refers to the legal assistance that is provided to those people who cannot afford it and as a result of such lack of accessibility would suffer injustice. The paper will discuss the mechanism adopted by the Legal Services Authority in India in providing legal aid to the prisoners and the effectiveness of such system. The Indian government being a welfare government has to discharge its duties and has to provide justice to all but whether this justice is being made accessible to the down trodden class of prisoners will be analysed. The paper will also discuss the various issues faced by the prisoners in jail when seeking justice for example whether they have access to quality legal services and legal representation? Whether the mechanism in place relating to collection and filing of cases for and on behalf of prisoners by the Legal services better than the legal aid an individual could get on their own? The challenges faced by the prisoners with no relatives and pairvikar for signing of affidavit in order to file cases and the result thereof. The paper would give suggestions for such issues and challenges and the reformative approach which could be followed for providing Legal Aid to the Prisoners.
