National Legal Services Authority
Context:
Recently, the Minister of Law and Justice informed the details of funds allocated by NALSA (National Legal Services Authority) to Legal Services Authorities to organise Legal Aid Programmes in India.
Relevance:
GS II- Polity and Governance
Dimensions of the Article:
- About National Legal Services Authority (NALSA)
- Legal Services Institutions at Various Levels
- Who is Eligible for Getting Free Legal Services?
About National Legal Services Authority (NALSA)
- National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA) was formed on 9 November 1995 under the authority of the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987.
- Its purpose is to provide free legal services to eligible candidates (defined in Sec. 12 of the Act), and to organize Lok Adalats for speedy resolution of cases.
- The Chief Justice of India is patron-in-chief of NALSA while second senior most judge of Supreme Court of India is the Executive-Chairman.
- There is a provision for similar mechanism at state and district level also headed by Chief Justice of High Courts and Chief Judges of District courts respectively.
- The prime objective of NALSA is speedy disposal of cases and reducing the burden of judiciary.
Basis for formation
- Article 39A of the Indian Constitution contains provisions for free legal aid to the weaker and poor sections of the society in order to ensure justice for all.
- Also, articles 14 and 22(1) of the Constitution make it obligatory for the State to ensure equality before law and a legal system which promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity to all.
- Therefore, the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) was constituted for the provision of free legal services to the weaker sections of the society and to organize Lok Adalats for speedy and amicable resolution of cases.
Objectives:
- Provide free legal aid and advice.
- Spread legal awareness.
- Organise lok adalats.
- Promote settlements of disputes through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Mechanisms. Various kinds of ADR mechanisms are Arbitration, Conciliation, Judicial settlement including settlement through Lok Adalat, or Mediation.
- Provide compensation to victims of crime.
Legal Services Institutions at Various Levels
- National Level: NALSA was constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. The Chief Justice of India is the Patron-in-Chief.
- State Level: State Legal Services Authority. It is headed by the Chief Justice of the State High Court who is its Patron-in-Chief.
- District Level: District Legal Services Authority. The District Judge of the District is its ex-officio Chairman.
- Taluka/Sub-Division Level: Taluka/ Sub-Divisional Legal Services Committee. It is headed by a senior Civil Judge.
- High Court: High Court Legal Services Committee
- Supreme Court: Supreme Court Legal Services Committee
Who is Eligible for Getting Free Legal Services?
- Women and children
- Members of SC/ST
- Industrial workmen
- Victims of mass disaster, violence, flood, drought, earthquake, industrial disaster.
- Disabled persons
- Persons in custody
- Those persons who have annual income of less than the amount prescribed by the respective State Government, if the case is before any court other than the Supreme Court, and less than Rs. 5 Lakhs, if the case is before the Supreme Court.
- Victims of Trafficking in Human beings or begar.
Women Have Right to Safe Abortion: SC
Context:
Denying an unmarried woman the right to a safe abortion violates her personal autonomy and freedom, the Supreme Court held in an order.
Relevance:
GS II- Polity and Governance
Dimensions of the Article:
- What did the SC say?
- What is the case about?
- The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971
- Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Act, 2021
What did the SC say?
- A woman’s right to reproductive choice is an inseparable part of her personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
- She has a sacrosanct right to bodily integrity, the court quoted from precedents.
- The court said forcing a woman to continue with her pregnancy would not only be a violation of her bodily integrity but also aggravate her mental trauma.
- The court ordered a medical board to be formed by the AIIMS to check whether it was safe to conduct an abortion on the woman and submit a report in a week.
What is the case about?
- Recently, a 25-year-old woman sought the Delhi High Court’s permission for termination of a pregnancy of 23 weeks and 5 days.
- The woman, a permanent resident of Manipur who currently resides in Delhi, told the court that the pregnancy was a result of a consensual relationship, and that she wanted to terminate the pregnancy because her partner had refused to marry her.
- She also told the court that she feared stigmatisation as a single, unmarried woman.
Delhi HC’s decision:
- A two-judge Bench of the Delhi High Court refused to allow the termination of the pregnancy.
- In oral observations, the judges coaxed the woman to carry her pregnancy to term, and to give up the newborn for adoption — even offering to personally pay for the process.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971
- The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 provides the legal framework for making CAC services available in India.
- Termination of pregnancy is permitted for a broad range of conditions up to 20 weeks of gestation as detailed below:
- When continuation of pregnancy is a risk to the life of a pregnant woman or could cause grave injury to her physical or mental health;
- When there is substantial risk that the child, if born, would be seriously handicapped due to physical or mental abnormalities;
- When pregnancy is caused due to rape (presumed to cause grave injury to the mental health of the woman);
- When pregnancy is caused due to failure of contraceptives used by a married woman or her husband (presumed to constitute grave injury to mental health of the woman).
The MTP Act specifies
- who can terminate a pregnancy;
- till when a pregnancy can be terminated; and
- where can a pregnancy be terminated.
Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Act, 2021
- The Act increases the gestation period of women seeking abortion up from 20 weeks to 24 weeks – It allows abortion to be done on the advice of one doctor up to 20 weeks, and two doctors in the case of certain special categories of women between 20 and 24 weeks.
- The “special categories of women” include rape survivors, victims of incest, the differently-abled and minors.
- In case of the gestational period beyond 24 weeks, pregnancy may be terminated only in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by the Medical Board or if there is a threat to the life of the mother.
- Opinion of only one provider will be required up to 20 weeks of gestation and two providers for termination of pregnancy of 20-24 weeks of gestation. (Opinion of only one doctor will be required up to 20 weeks of gestation and two doctors for termination of pregnancy of 20-24 weeks of gestation.)
- Under the Act, a pregnancy may be terminated up to 20 weeks by a married woman in the case of failure of contraceptive method or device. It allows unmarried women to also terminate a pregnancy for this reason.
- All state and union territory governments will constitute a Medical Board. The Board will decide if pregnancy may be terminated after 24 weeks due to substantial foetal abnormalities.
Significance of the amendment
- It will provide greater reproductive rights and dignity to women as abortion is considered an important aspect of the reproductive health of women.
- Deaths and injuries from unsafe abortions are largely preventable provided services are performed legally by trained practitioners.
- The rape victims and vulnerable victims will also be benefitted from Privacy Clause.
- Many cases which were filed in High Courts to seek permission for abortion beyond 20 weeks will be reduced. Also, often 20 weeks were spent in completing the legal procedures and formalities – hence, there was a need to increase the upper limit of time.
Criticisms of the 2021 amendment to the MTP act
- One opinion is that terminating a pregnancy is the choice of the pregnant woman and a part of her reproductive rights. Another is that the state should protect life and hence should provide for the protection of the foetus.
- It enhances the gestational limit for legal abortion from 20 to 24 weeks only for specific categories of women. A woman who does not fall into these categories would not be able to seek an abortion beyond 20 weeks.
- The Act does not provide a time frame within which the Board must make its decision. Also, the shortage of specialised doctors will further delay the case.
- There may be cases where persons who identify as transgender (and not women) can become pregnant even after receiving hormone therapy to transition from female to male, and may require termination services. The Act is silent over this.
- The boards are unnecessary and an invasion of privacy of the pregnant women which pushes the laborious process a woman had to undergo in order to get an abortion.
- Many are still not aware of their reproductive rights and the amendment does not show concerns towards the need for awareness.
Public Safety Act (PSA)
Context:
Families of several youth taken into preventive detention this year under the controversial Public Safety Act (PSA), which allows detention for up to two years without a trial, allege their kin were “shifted outside jails and held incommunicado” in violation of the provisions of the Act.
Relevance:
GS-II: Governance (Government Policies and Innovations, Issues Arising Out of the Design and Implementation of Policies)
Dimensions of the Article:
- About the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), 1978
- What are some concerns with the PSA?
- SC’s views on the Public Safety Act
About the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), 1978
- The Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 (PSA) is a preventive detention law applying only to Jammu and Kashmir. It is very similar to the National Security Act that is used by the central and other state governments of India for preventive detention.
- Under the PSA, an individual can be detained on the basis of an executive order for a maximum of two years, without trial, if their act is prejudicial to the security of the State or the maintenance of public order.
- The Detention order is passed either by the Divisional Commissioner or the District Magistrate.
- The only way the administrative preventive detention order can be challenged is through a habeas corpus petition filed by relatives of the detained person.
- The High Court and the Supreme Court have jurisdiction to hear such petitions and pass a final order seeking quashing of the PSA.
- However, if the order is quashed, there is no bar on the government passing another detention order under the PSA and detaining the person again.
- There can be no prosecution or any legal proceeding against the official who has passed the order.
What are some concerns with the PSA?
- Detention Without Trial: The PSA allows for the detention of a person without a formal charge and without trial. It can be slapped on a person already in police custody; on someone immediately after being granted bail by a court. Unlike in normal circumstances, a person who is detained under the PSA need not be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours of the detention.
- No Right to File Bail Application: The detained person does not have the right to move a bail application before the court, and cannot engage any lawyer to represent him or her before the detaining authority.
- Section 8 of the PSA: It provides a vast number of reasons for detention, ranging from “promoting, propagating, or attempting to create, feelings of enmity or hatred or disharmony on grounds of religion, race, caste, community, or region” to incitement, instigation, abetment and actual commission of such acts. It leaves it to district collectors or district magistrates to decide, giving a 12-day period within which an advisory board has to approve the detention.
- No Distinction Between Minor and Major Offences: It allows detention for up to 1 year for disturbance of public order and 2 years for actions prejudicial to the security of the State.
SC’s views on the Public Safety Act
- The Supreme Court (SC) has held that while detaining a person under the PSA, the DM has a legal obligation to analyse all the circumstances before depriving that person of his/her personal liberty.
- It has also held that when a person already under police custody is slapped with the PSA, the DM has to record “compelling reasons” for detaining that person.
- While the DM can detain a person multiple times under the PSA, he or she has to produce fresh facts while passing the subsequent detention order.
- Also, all the material on the basis of which the detention order has been passed, should be provided to the detained person for making an effective representation.
- The grounds of detention have to explain and communicate to the person in the language understood by the detained person.
Snow leopard
Context:
A recent study by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) on snow leopard (Panthera uncia) has thrown up interesting insights on the elusive mountain cat and its prey species.
- The study under the National Mission on Himalayan Studies revealed a strong link between habitat use by snow leopard and its prey species Siberian ibex and blue sheep.
Relevance:
GS III- Environment and Ecology
Dimensions of the Article:
- About the Snow leopard
- Snow Leopards in India and their conservation
About the Snow leopard
- The snow leopard is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia.
- It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
- The snow leopard, like all big cats, is listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), which makes trading of animal body parts (i.e., fur, bones and meat) illegal in CITES signatory countries.
- Global population is estimated to number less than 10,000 mature Snow Leopards.
- It inhabits alpine and subalpine zones at elevations from 3,000 to 4,500 m.
- It is threatened by poaching and habitat destruction following infrastructural developments.
Snow Leopards in India and their conservation
- In India, their geographical range encompasses a large part of the western Himalayas including the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern Himalayas. The last three states form part of the Eastern Himalayas – a priority global region of WWF and the Living Himalayas Network Initiative.
- Project Snow Leopard (PSL): It promotes an inclusive and participatory approach to conservation that fully involves local communities.
- SECURE Himalaya: Global Environment Facility (GEF)-United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded the project on conservation of high-altitude biodiversity and reducing the dependency of local communities on the natural ecosystem. This project is now operational in four snow leopard range states, namely, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Sikkim.
