Speed up release of undertrials, says PM
NEW DELHI: Ease of justice is as important as ease of doing business and ease of living, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised on Saturday while imploring the judiciary to speed up the release of under-trials who remain in jail due to want of legal aid.
Speaking at the inaugural session of first all India district legal services authorities meet in New Delhi, Modi underscored the role of legal aid in ascertaining access to justice for all, especially the marginalised sections that have always reposed faith in the judicial system.
“A few days from today, the country is completing 75 years of its independence. This is the time of the elixir of our freedom. This is the time for taking the resolutions which will take the country to new heights in the next 25 years. Ease of Justice is as important as the ease of doing business and ease of living in this journey of the country,” he said, highlighting the function of legal services authority in achieving this goal.
The common man believes that if no one listens, the doors of the court are always open, Modi said. “This belief in justice makes every countryman realise that the systems of the country are protecting his rights. With this idea, the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) was established so that even the weakest of the weak could get the right to justice,” the Prime Minister said. “Specifically, our district legal services authorities (DLSAs) are like building blocks of our legal aid system.” Focussing on the issue of under-trials, who constitute two-thirds of the inmates in prisons across the country, Modi earmarked a role for the DLSAs that are headed by district judges, who also lead the undertrial review committees.
“Sensitivity has been shown several times in the past by the Supreme Court on the humanitarian issue related to under-trial prisoners in the country. There are so many prisoners who have been languishing in jails for years, awaiting legal aid. Our district legal services authorities can take up the responsibility of providing legal aid to these prisoners,” he said.
Referring to the attendance of district judges from across the country to attend the meet, Modi urged the judicial officers to expedite the release of undertrial prisoners in their capacity as chairman of the district level under-trial review committees. He also commended the NALSA for undertaking a focussed campaign on the release of undertrial prisoners through legal aid.
Modi spoke after Chief Justice of India NV Ramana’s address, in which the Supreme Court judge also appealed the district judicial officers to intervene in securing “much deserved relief for undertrials”. Earlier, justice Uday U Lalit, the Supreme Court judge who is also the executive chairman of NALSA, spoke at the event, announcing NALSA’s plan to put in place legal aid defence counsel offices in maximum possible districts.