Hyderabad is the capital of southern India’s Telangana state. A major center for the technology industry, it’s home to many upscale restaurants and shops. Its historic sites include Golconda Fort, a former diamond-trading center that was once the Qutb Shahi dynastic capital. The Charminar, a 16th-century mosque whose 4 arches support towering minarets, is an old city landmark near the long-standing Laad Bazaar.
The team of SL Hyderabad Legal aims to deliver high-end service to all of their clients across practice areas starting from inquiry & investigation stages right up to the Supreme Court of India.
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FUNCTIONS OF THE CENTRAL AUTHORITY
- Lay down policies and principles for fulfilling the provisions of the Legal Services Act.
- Frame the most economic schemes for providing legal aid to the poor.
- Utilize funds at their disposal to be given to the State and District authorities.
- Organize Legal Aid camps in rural and slum areas.
- Undertake and promote research in the field of Legal aid, with special emphasis on providing legal aid to the poor.
- To do all things necessary for the fulfillment of fundamental duties given under Part IV-A of the Constitution.
- Develop in consultation with the Bar Council of India, programs for clinical legal education.
- Take appropriate measures for spreading legal literacy and legal awareness amongst the people and, in particular, to educate weaker sections of society.
- Make special efforts to enlist the support of voluntary social welfare institutions working at the grass-root level.
- Coordinate and monitor the functions of State Authorities, District Authorities, Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, High Court Legal Services Committees, Taluk Legal Services Committees and voluntary social service Institutions and other legal services organizations and give general directions for the proper implementation of the program.
- Provide grants and aids for various schemes and social service institutions.
Legal Aid under the Indian Penal Code
Section 340(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, provided that if a man was charged with an offence punishable with death, the court could provide him with counsel upon his request. This was subjected to a twisted interpretation by the Supreme Court by classifying it as a privilege rather than the duty of the magistrate in Tara Singh v. State (1951 AIR 441). However, India in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, facilitated the statutory implementation of free legal aid subsequently. Section 304(1) provides that: In a trial before the sessions judge, if the accused has not sufficient means to engage a pleader, the court should assign a pleader for his defense at the expense of the State.
Conclusion
Legal Services have been the cornerstone of justice for centuries, they help in fulfilling the ideal of equal justice, irrespective of the financial ability of an individual. Their existence is also a testament to the working of a socialist structure in a country, and also shows the various benefits of a socialist structure. The abscess of legal services may lead to misuse of the law that was created to protect the underprivileged and wronged in the first place.
Legal services can be in different forms, in India they have taken the form of authorities at the central and state level. We also see the presence of legal services under the Directive principles of state policy in the constitution.
Hence their optimum usage and implementation are essential for the proper working of the Justice system in any country.
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