Legal Aid Before Lockdown

LEGAL AID AW ARENESS PROGRAMME: RIGHT TO LEGAL AID FOR THE UNDERPRIVILIGED

DME Legal Aid Society organized a Legal Aid Awareness Programme with a theme “Right to Legal Aid for the Underprivileged” for 4th and 5th year students of DME Law School on Monday, 14th October 2019 at 1 p.m at Nelson Mandela Auditorium of the college in order to spread legal awareness amongst all.

The distinguished speakers for the event were:

  1. Mrs. Minakshi Sinha, Secretary, DLSA Noida
  2. Senior Advocate, Mr. Shikhar Thakral
  3. Director, Dr. Ravi Kant Swami.
  4. Dean, DME Law School, Dr. N.K. Bahl.
  5. Head, Academics, DME Law School, Dr. Bhavish Gupta.

COMMENCMENT OF THE PROGRAMME – The event commenced with the dignitaries arriving at DME Campus where they were welcomed at the main door with the ceremonial application of Tilak and Flowers. After which the dignitaries were escorted to the Director General, Justice Bhanwar Singh’s office for a short while where the list of Para-Legal volunteers amongst the students of DME Law school was approved by Secretary, DLSA, Mrs Minakshi Sinha. She was gifted a book by the Honorable DG sir as a token of affection.

After that the dignitaries were escorted to the Nelson Mandela Auditorium.The programme started at the auditorium with the lighting of the lamp and Saraswati Vandana and the guests were asked to grace the dais. Ms. SreeDurga (Faculty, DME Law School) was then called upon the podium to address the gathering with opening remarks.

OPENING REMARKS OF THE EVENT BY MS. SreeDurga (Faculty, DME Law School) – She welcomed the guests and the audience present at the auditorium and started by saying that free legal aid has been made an intrinsic fiber of the Fundamental Rights of our Constitution. She introduced the Theme of the Event, which was- “Right to Legal Aid for Underprivilieged”
She continued by saying that it is a Fundamental Right of all citizens to be provided with free legal aid. As a duty bound institution of this country, DME strives to extend its help in creating legal awareness amongst people so that they are able to realize their rights in a judicious and efficacious manner. In pursuance of this objective, DME Law School has inaugurated Legal Aid Clinic at DME as a functional unit in association with District Legal Service Authority NOIDA on 4th November, 2018. She also mentioned that The Legal Aid Centre of Delhi Metropolitan Education had organized a Legal Aid Camp in the village of Hoshiarpur, Sector 51, NOIDA, Gautam Buddha Nagar District on 4th November, 2018 in collaboration with the District Legal Service Authority where the event was graced by Mr. P.K. Srivastava, the then District Judge, Gautam Buddha Nagar as the Chief Guest. He was accompanied by Ms. Neelu Mainwal, the Secretary, District Legal Services Authority NOIDA and Mr. Rakesh Singh Chauhan, the District Information Officer. She then went on to thank the dignitaries for investing their time in theLegal Aid Awareness Programme initiated by DME Law School.

INTRODUCTION OF GUEST AND THE THEME OF THE PROGRAMME – Ms. Megha (Student, DME Law School) was called upon the podium to introduce the hon’ble guest and theme for the day’s programme. She started by introducing the esteemed guests and went on to say that Legal aid in a free legal assistance to the poor and weaker sections of the society with the object to enable them to exercise the rights given to them by law. The Constitution of India gives much emphasis on constitutionalism and the rule of law. In India the rule of law is regarded as a part of the basic structure of the Constitution and also of natural justice. The rule of natural justice says that individuals should not be penalised by decisions affecting their rights or legitimate expectations unless they have been given prior notice of the cases against them, a fair opportunity to answer them, and the opportunity to present their own cases. The preamble of the Constitution secures to its citizen, social, economic and political justice.

Article 14 of the Constitution makes it clear that the State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. The aim of Article 14 is to ensure equal justice. The guarantee of equal justice is meaningless if the poor or illiterate or weak persons cannot enforce their rights because of their poverty or illiteracy or weakness therefore a separate legislation, The Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 has been enacted to constitute the Legal Service Authorities to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities and to organise Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice. The Legal Services Authorities Act establishes statutory legal services authorities at the National, State and District level. In the end she thanked the dignitaries for investing their time and then invited Director Mr. Ravikant Swami upon the stage to felicitate Mrs. Minakshi Sinha the Hon’ble Chief Guest of the event.

FELICITATION OF HON’BLE CHIEF GUEST BY DIRECTOR MR. RAVIKANT SWAMI – Director Mr. Ravikant Swami was delighted to felicitate the Hon’ble Chief Guest Mrs. Minakshi Sinha and extended his warm welcome by presenting a momento and a tusli plant. He spoke for a brief while wherein, he highlighted the importance of Legal Aid services and appreciated the role of the college management and the legal aid society to imbibe the vision to carry forward the actual goal of providing legal aid to the needy and underprivileged.

WORDS OF WISDOM BY PROFESSOR DR. N.K BAHL, DIRECTOR JUDICIAL TRAINING ACADEMY – The event went forward and Prof. N.K Bahl, Director, Judicial Training Academy and Dean, DME Law School was then invited upon the podium to present his views upon free legal aid. He urged everyone not to consider Legal Aid as a charity. He said that being a responsible citizen of this country it is our duty to provide help and assistance to those who don’t have deep pockets to pay hefty amount. In pursuance of this objective DME Law School has inaugurated Legal Aid Clinic at DME as a functional unit in association with District Legal Service Authority NOIDA on 4th November, 2018. He stressed that justice, be it political, economic and social was a virtue promised by our Constitution and that everyone was entitled to achieve it.

SENIOR ADVOCATE MR. SHIKHAR THAKRAL – Mr. Shikhar Thakral was next in line to grace the podium. He urged the students to understand the practicalities of the legal profession. He emphasized that litigation should always remain the last recourse to any dispute. One should try to resolve the disputes amongst each other and as amicably as possible rather than initiating the process of litigation at the first instance, because litigation and all its forms are a long drawn, time consuming and tedious process. He stressed on minimizing litigations by keeping court as the last option of dispute settlement. He quoted Abraham Lincoln and said that in a case, those who win are actually those who lose, pointing out to the loss of good relations between the parties and the long years of litigation.

HON’BLE CHIEF GUEST Mrs. MINAKSHI SINHA (SECRETARY, DLSA NOIDA) – Last but not the least was our Hon’ble chief guest Mrs. Minakshi Sinha. She was invited upon the podium to give her insights on need for free Legal Aid. She provided the audience the much-needed basic information about – What is Legal Aid, Why Legal Aid and Who all are entitled to Free Legal Aid. Special Emphasis was given to Section. 12 of Legal Service Authorities Act, 1987 so as to enable students to understand who all are entitled for free Legal Aid.

CERTIFICATE DISTRIBUTION BY THE CHIEF GUEST – DME Legal Aid Society was overwhelmed with success of 1-day Legal Aid Camp organized at Village of Hoshiarpur, therefore the society decided to distribute Certificate of appreciation to all the participants and Faculties for their enthusiasm and support. The certificate of appreciation was distributed by the Chief Guest.

And with this Legal Aid Awareness Programme came to a successful end.
Inauguration of Legal Aid Clinic at DME and Legal Aid Camp at Hoshiyarpur Village, Gautam Buddha Nagar, November 4th, 2018

Free legal aid has been made an intrinsic fiber of the Fundamental Rights of our Constitution. It is a Fundamental Right of all citizens to be provided with free legal aid. As a duty bound institute of this country, DME strives to extend its help in creating legal awareness amongst people so that they are able to realize their rights in a judicious and efficacious manner. In pursuance of this objective a Legal Aid Clinic was inaugurated in the premise of DME as a functional unit in association with the District Legal Services Authority NOIDA on 4th November, 2018.

 

The Legal Aid Centre of Delhi Metropolitan Education had organized a Legal Aid Camp in the village of Hoshiyarpur, Sector 51, NOIDA, Gautam Buddha Nagar District on 4th November, 2018 in collaboration with the District Legal Service Authority. The event was graced by Mr. P.K. Shrivastava, District Judge, Gautam Buddha Nagar as the Chief Guest. He was accompanied by Ms. Neelu Nainwal, the Secretary, District Legal Services Authority NOIDA and Mr. Rakesh Singh Chauhan, the District Information Officer.

 

The event commenced with the dignitaries arriving at DME and inaugurating the newly constituted Legal Aid Clinic in the DME campus. The venue was then shifted to Hoshiyarpur Village, Sector 51 NOIDA where the Legal Aid Clinic was officiated by our esteemed dignitaries. The Legal Aid Centre of DME also organized a one day camp to solicit the people of Hoshiyarpur village with knowledge about law on various pressing issues such as filing of an FIR, domestic violence, property matters, matters relating to the interests of children, consumer rights etc. so that they are better equipped and informed about the protection of laws that exists for them.

 

The programme started with the lighting of the lamp and invocation of Goddess Saraswati and the guests were asked to grace the dais. Mr. P.N. Parashar, the Head of the Legal Aid Committee of DME was then invited to address the gathering and pave out the outline of the ensuing programme. He stated that as a responsible citizen every member of DME Law School was committed towards providing any kind of aid and assistance in the matters of law and attainment of justice. He stressed that justice, be it political, economical and social was a virtue promised by our Constitution and that everyone was entitled to achieve it. He then went on to thank the dignitaries for investing their time in this social enterprise initiated by DME.

 

Prof. N.K. Behl, the Director, Judicial Training Academy was then invited upon the podium to present his views on the concept of free legal aid. He stated that the idea of legal aid works on the collaboration and consensus between the parties. He stated that  government policies need efficacious application on the ground level and DME is trying to help in the implementation of those policies.

 

Ms. Neelu Nainwal, Secretary District Legal Services authority was then called upon to give her insights on the need for free legal aid. She provided the audience the much needed basic information about provisions of free legal aid and the rights available to the people by virtue of article 21 and article 39A of the Constitution. She explained the mechanisms enlisted in the Legal Service Authority Act. She explained the hierarchical level of the legal services authorities in India, ie. the National Legal Services Authority, the State Legal Services Authortiy, District Legal Services Authority and Tehsil Legal Services Authority. She gave a holistic view about the statutory backing of legal aid.

 

Mr. Rakesh Singh Chauhan was next in line to grace the podium and he averred on the necessity of free legal aid in a democratic welfare society.

 

After various insightful comments by the esteemed guests, it was the turn of DME team to throw light upon the issue of free legal aid and its necessity in making people more conscious about their rights.

 

Dr. Bhavish Gupta stressed upon the importance of legal awareness in people as it is one of the major components in the all round growth and development of the society.

 

Next, Saurav Kumar, a student of DME Law school gave a presentation on the evils of human trafficking and the rights of the victims involved in it.

A Nukkad Natak was then staged by the students of DME under the guidance and direction of Ms. Navjot Suri, Assistant Professor of Law. The play brought the issue of domestic violence into a sharp relief highlighting the problems faced by women and men alike in abusive domestic relationships and environment.

 

Ujjwal Sharma, another student from DME informed the audience about the issue of exploitation of women and women rights, whereas Keshav Nagi initiated a discussion on rights of children such as right to education and right against child labour.

 

Mr. Pramod Kumar, an advocate working with the District Legal Services Authority NOIDA explained to the audience the duties that entail along with various rights.

 

Finally, the Chief Guest of the event, Mr. P.K. Shrivastav was ushered on the podium to express his valuable opinions. He urged the students to understand the practicalities of the legal profession and that the educational institutes through activities like the present legal aid camp should provide the law students ample opportunities to interact with the people and understand their idea of law, rights and their applicability. He commented that in the present course of education system, the law students are quite ignorant of the ground realities of the court and the people and through free legal aid the students can get a firsthand experience of dealing with the cross sectioning of law and society.

 

Mr. P.K. Shrivastav then addressed the audience stating that litigation should always remain the last recourse to any dispute. He averred that one should try to resolve the disputes amongst each other and as amicably as possible rather than initiating the process of litigation at the first instance, because litigation and all its forms are a long drawn, time consuming and tedious process. He stressed on minimizing litigations by keeping court as the last option of dispute settlement. He quoted Abraham Lincoln and said that in a case, those who win are actually those who lose, pointing out to the loss of good relations between the parties and the long years of litigation.

 

With this the one-day camp at Hoshiyarpur Village came to a successful end.

CYBER TRAINING OF POLICE OFFICERS IN DISTRICT GAUTAM BUDDHA NAGAR   MAY 2019