Ghaziabad: Legal aid defence counsel (LADC) of UP have written to Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal against an Aug 4 order by National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) to discontinue the LADC system.Ghaziabad chief LADC Kiran Pal Singh said they have an important role in representing poor undertrials and prisoners, who often remain in jail as they are unable to hire expensive advocates, giving effect to Article 39A of the Constitution that requires the state to ensure equal access to justice and provide free legal aid to those who need it.According to the LADC dashboard, of the 15,562 cases in UP that were assigned to advocates working as legal aid defence counsel in the financial year 2025-26, 9,691 were disposed of. Singh said UP shouldn’t be forced to scrap a scheme that was performing well in the state just because some states objected to it.The LADC scheme replaced the assigned counsel system, under which private empanelled lawyers took up legal aid cases on a per-hearing basis, with a structured, full-time public defender system. NALSA first introduced it as a pilot across 17 states and union territories in 2020. Following positive feedback, it formally launched the Legal Aid Defence Counsel Scheme in 2022, significantly expanding its reach, and by fiscal year 2023-24 had become a heavily funded central sector scheme.Under the scheme, a tiered team comprises a chief legal aid defence counsel, along with deputy and assistant counsels. Appointed lawyers draw fixed monthly salaries from government allocations and are barred from maintaining private practice. They represent clients from the pre-arrest or remand stage through bail hearings, trial proceedings, prison visits and final appeals. Since nearly 75% of India’s prison population consists of undertrial prisoners, the scheme focuses primarily on prompt bail applications to ease overcrowding.The NALSA direction followed “concerns” that LADCs were creating a parallel Bar system, which was ultimately affecting the livelihoods of practising advocates. Bar Associations in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, which started protesting against the LADCs model, claimed that full-time salaried defence lawyers were being hired via the District Legal Services Authority rather than cases being assigned to regular local advocates on a case-to-case basis, which was cutting into the traditional practice opportunities and marginalising practising junior advocates.In June, advocates across Punjab’s district courts struck work against the scheme. On July 13, the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana unanimously demanded its immediate rollback and review. By July 24, Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association joined the protest, suspending court work in solidarity with advocates on hunger strike.Following an emergency meeting between a joint action committee of Bar representatives, Union law minister and CJI, NALSA member secretary Sanjiv Pandey on Aug 4 directed that LADC contracts in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh would not be renewed from Sept 2026 onwards until a specialised committee revises the policy framework. NALSA also directed all State Legal Services Authorities not to renew the contracts of LADCs after their existing tenures expire, pending a comprehensive review of the scheme.Singh, however, argued that other states should not be compelled to discontinue the system just because a demand was raised by some states.He said the LADC model was introduced to overcome the shortcomings of the traditional assigned/panel lawyer model, where courts appoint private, independent lawyers from a pre-approved list (a panel) to represent poor undertrials who cannot afford counsel. “But empanelled advocates often continue private practice while being assigned legal-aid work. This arrangement frequently resulted in divided attention, inconsistent quality of representation, limited accountability, inadequate prison visits, and, in some instances, demands for additional payments from beneficiaries despite receipt of state honorarium,” he said.The LADCs also pointed out that Supreme Court has already taken serious cognisance of attempts by certain Bar Associations to obstruct the functioning of LADC Scheme.In May 2023, Supreme Court expressed its strong displeasure at Bharatpur Bar Association for passing resolutions to obstruct the work of lawyers appointed as volunteers under Legal Aid Defence System of National Legal Services Authority. A bench led by then Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud observed that passing such resolutions amounted to “sheer contempt of court”.Singh said the scheme has been appreciated by the judiciary, prison administration, civil society and beneficiaries. “A nationwide rollback or non-renewal of the scheme would punish thousands of poor prisoners across India who are benefiting from dedicated representation and set a precedent that localised agitation can derail a national constitutional scheme,” Singh said, seeking a local resolution for the issues raised by Bar Association of Punjab Haryana and Chandigarh.Meanwhile, Bar Associations of GB Nagar and Ghaziabad have welcomed the decision of NALSA, saying the rollback of the scheme will help young advocates get more cases.
