ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR MARGINALISED PEOPLE IN INDIA

ABSTRACT

“Couldn’t help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land where Justice is a game”1

The Noble features of “Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” enshrined in the
Preamble of the Constitution of India reflects the kind of nation which our forefathers wanted
to make. The constitution of India declares that “All persons are equal before law”. Through
its various provisions it ensures equal protection of law to all its citizen.

But despite of these safeguards, we are not able to provide Justice to all our people.
Lack of awareness, high costs of legal procedures and unnecessary delay in getting decisions
make justice far reaching to marginalized people. Justice is an end and law is a means but
where the rich enjoys justice as their luxury and the poor who needed it most is deprived of it,
how will the end of justice be served?

The present article discusses the poor condition of justice in the society. It tries to
evaluate how far we have achieved success in ensuring justice to our unprivileged people.
Besides this, it also provides some initiatives or possible solutions which if implemented
properly will surely help in making justice accessible to all. Framing of laws are not enough,
we have to make people aware of their rights. Legal Professionals, Academicians, Law
Students, and various N.G.O.s along with N.A.L.S.A are doing their lot to help these people
but yet we need more efforts into this stream to achieve the end of Justice.

------------------------------------------

1
Bob Dylon’s writing.
 “To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or Justice”

These lines enshrined in 40th paragraph of Magna Carta shows the importance of Justice
in the Society. The end of Justice can only be realized through a well established legal
system.

“Justice is the ability within a society to use courts and other legal institutions
effectively to protect one’s rights and pursue claims”2

Article 8 of the Universal declaration of Human Rights declares everyone has the right
to have an effective remedy by the competent National Tribunal for acts of violation of
Fundamental Rights granted by the Constitution.

Article 14(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Right says:
In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be
entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality.

a. To be informed promptly and in detail in a language which he understands of the

nature and the cause of the charge against him.
b. To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defense and to
communicate with a counsel of his own choosing.
c. To be tried without undue delay.
d. To be tried in his presence and to defend himself in person or through legal assistance
of his own choosing, to be informed, if he does not have legal assistance, to have legal
assistance assigned to him, in any case where the interests of the Justice so require
and without payment by him in any such case if he does not have sufficient means to
pay for it.

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution declares:-

“The State shall not deny any person equality before law or equal protection of law
within the territory of India”

2
Black’s law Dictionary.
 The Constitution provides the safeguards in the form of Right to Constitutional Remedy
to have direct access to the Supreme Court and the High Court having the power of extra
ordinary writ Jurisdiction under Article 32 & Article 226 respectively, if the Fundamental
Rights of any individual is violated by the State.

The Supreme Court has stated in the case of Keshav Singh Re3:-
“The existence of a judicial power in that behalf must necessarily and inevitably
postulate the existence of right in citizens to move to the courts.”

But, inspite of all these measures, Justice is still broken at various levels. Injustice is
rampant in the country and is inaccessible to our marginalized section of the society. Lower
level of awareness, high costs of legal proceedings, low per capita income & unnecessary
delay in getting decisions, makes justice far reaching for the people.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere”4

The poor and marginalized people are often the victims of Injustice which sometimes
includes violations of their basic human rights. What is more worse for a democratic country
than its people being crushed under the wheels of Injustice.

Mr. Justice Brennan of the U.S. Supreme Court: -

“Nothing rankles more in human heart than a brooding sense of injustice. Illness we can
put up with. But, injustice makes us want to pull things down. When, only rich can enjoy the
law, as a doubtful luxury, and the poor, who needed most, cannot have it because, its
expenses put it beyond their reach, the threat to continued existence of the free democracy is
not imaginary but very real, because democracy’s very life depends upon making the
machinery of Justice so effective that every citizen shall believe in and benefit by its
impartiality and fairness.”5

3
AIR 1965 SC 745.
4
Martin Luther King.
5
Rawl, J., A theory of Justice, edition 1997, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
PRESENT POSITION OF JUSTICE IN INDIA

As on September 2, 2019: 59,616 cases were pending in the Supreme Court of India6.
More than 43 lacs cases are pending in 25 High Courts of the Country7 and 8 lacs of these are
over a decade old. While 2.85 crore cases are pending in sub-ordinate courts. According to
the National Judicial Data Grid(NJDG), the five states which accounts for the highest
pendency are Uttar Pradesh(61.58 lacs), Maharastra(33.22 lacs), West Bengal(17.59 lacs),
Bihar(16.58 lacs) and Gujurat(16.45 lacs).

The above data shows the extent of pendency in India. It is matter of great concern
especially for our marginalized section who neither have the means nor the awareness to
access Justice.

Over the decade to 2016, crime rate against Dalits rose by 25% from 16.3 crimes per
1,00,000 Dalits reported in 2006 to 20.3 crimes in 2016 according to India Spend analysis of
2016 National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB) data.

Meanwhile, the crime rate against S.T.s(Adivasis) declined by 9% from 6.9 crimes per
1,00,000 S.T.s in 2006 to 6.3 crimes in 2016.

However, cases pending Police Investigation for both the marginalized groups had
arisen by 99% & 55% respectively, while the pendency in Courts has risen by 50% & 28%
respectively. The conviction rates for crimes against S.C.s & S.T.s have fallen by 2% and 7%
respectively to 26% and 21% from 2006 to 2016.

According to the Census of 2011, Dalits or Schedule Castes comprise 16.6%(201

million) of India’s Population, up from 16.2% in 2001; Adivasis from 8.6%(104 million) of
country’s population up from 8.2% in 2001.

As many as 4,22,799 crimes against Dalits or Schedule Castes and 81,332 crimes
against S.T.s were reported between 2006 and 2016. The highest increase in crimes were
recorded in eight states Goa, Kerela, Delhi, Gujurat, Bihar, Maharastra, Jharkhand and
Sikkim – where rate rose over 10 times. Meanwhile 81,322 crimes against S.T.s have been

6
Statistics, Supreme Court, available at http://sci,gov.in/statistics , last seen on 10/10/2019.
7
Statement by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Statement regarding pending cases in India, Rajya Sabha
(27/06/2019)
reported from 2006 to 2016, with the highest increase in crime rate recorded in Kerela,
Karnataka and Bihar.

While the reporting of crimes against dalits and Adivasis had arisen over the decade
there has not been an equivalent rise in the rate of disposal of cases by the Police and Courts.

PENDING POLICE INVESTIGATION

Cases of crimes against Schedule Castes pending police investigation has nearly
doubled from 8.380 cases in 2006 to 16.654 cases in 2016 and Bihar, with 4,311 cases is
worst amongst all the States and Union Territories.

In the case of crime against S.T.s, pendency of investigation had arisen 55% - from
1,679 cases in 2006 to 2,602 cases by the end of 2016, with Andhra Pradesh reporting the
highest pendency(405 cases).

PENIDNG TRIAL IN COURTS

In Courts, Crimes against Dalits pending trail have risen by 50% over the decade – from
85,264 to 129,831 as of 2016.

In 2016 alone, 40,801 new crimes against dalits were registered under the Prevention of
Atrocities Act; less than 15,000 cases completed trial over that year. The number of trials
completed in court has dropped by 28% from 20,435 in 2006 to 14,615 in 2016. U.P. with
33,455 such cases pending is worst in the list of States.

For Adivasis, trials completed in a year has nearly halved (by 49%) since 2006 – from
2,895 to 4,317 in 2016 – while those pending trials has risen by 28%. M.P. with 4,839
pending trail cases have the worst record.

CONVICTION RATES

The conviction rate has remained less than 30% over the decade. Among the crimes that
do get disposed in courts, about a quarter lead to convictions in crimes against dalits. As of
2016, this conviction rate – calculated by dividing the number of convictions in a year
divided by the number of trials completed in a year – stood at 26% and a 2% decline is seen
from 28% which was seen a decade ago.

Accused persons in the rest of 74% of cases completing trials in 2016 were acquitted,
which again is a rise from 2006 when 72% of the cases led to acquittals. As of 2016,
M.P.(43.4%), Goa(43.2%) and Rajasthan(42%) held the highest crime rates against dalits;
their conviction rates were 31%, 8% and 45% respectively.

Conviction rates in Sikkim, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orrisa, Gujurat, Telangana,

Goa, Tamilnadu and Kerela are particulary low – less than 10%. Delhi reported the highest
rise(67%) in acquittals over the decade.

The conviction rate in cases against Adivasis was 21% in 2016, which is even worse
showing a seven percentage point decline from 2006(28%) with the rest 79% acquittals.

Kerela reported the highest crime rate(37.5%) against the S.T.s followed by the
Andaman and Nicobar islands(21%) and Andhra Pradesh(15.4%). Their conviction rates
were 8.2%, 0% and 1.1% respectively.

A ‘zero’ percent conviction rate was reported in 2016, by the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands and six states – Gujurat, Karnataka, Tripura, Uttranchal, West Bengal and Delhi.

Late registration of complaints; delays in spot registration; lack of protection for the
victims and reluctance to register crimes under the relevant sections of the Prevention of
Atrocities Act – these are some of the Chief reasons for low conviction rates, according to
2017 study reports by Civil Society Organizations, Parliamentary Committees and by the
Centre for study of Society and Secularism, an N.G.O. based in Mumbai.

SAFEGUARDS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

Our Constitution provides for free legal aid as a right to person who due to financial or
any other reasons can’t afford a counsel. In developing a state like ours, with overwhelming
uneducated majority, lack of awareness of rights, lower income, these rights are of utmost
importance for defending the rights of marginalized section.

Article 14 declares:
 “The State shall not deny any person equality before law and equal protection of law
within the territory of India”.
The Article categorically states that all persons are equal before law irrespective of their
caste, sex, gender, etc.

Article 21 provides:
“No person shall be deprived of his life and personal liberty except in accordance with
procedure established by law”.

Article 22 states:
“No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as
soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest nor shall be denied the right to consult and to
be defended by, a legal petitioner of his choice”.

The right under Article 32 to petition in the Supreme Court for enforcement and
protection of Fundamental rights is itself a fundamental right. In Keshav Singh Re8, the S.C.
said “The existence of Judicial power in that behalf must necessarily and inevitably
postulate the existence of a right in the citizen to move the court in that behalf”.

Article 39(A) of the Indian Constitution says:

“The State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a
basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable
legislature or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice
are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities”.

In Maneka Gandhi Vs. Union of India9

Justice P.N.Bhagwati observed “We do not think it is possible to reach the benefits
of the legal process to the poor to protect them against injustice and to secure them their
constitutional and statutory rights unless there is a nation-wide legal service
programme to provide free legal service to them”.

In Suk Das Vs. Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh10 it was held: - “It may
therefore now be taken as well settled that free legal assistance at state cost is a

8
AIR 1965 SC 745
9
AIR 1978 SC 597
10
(1986) 2 SCC 401
Fundamental Right of a person accused of an offence which may involve jeopardy to his
life or personal liberty and this fundamental right is implicit in the requirement of
reasonable, fair and just procedure prescribed by Article 21”.

In Hussainara Khatoon Vs. State of Bihar11:

“This is a constitutional right of every accused person who is enable to engage a

lawyer and service, on account of reasons such as poverty, indigence or incommunicable
situation and the state is under a mandate to provide a lawyer to an accused if the
circumstances of the case and the needs of Justice so require, provided of course the
accused person does not object the provision of such lawyer”.

The S.C. expanded the rights in Madhav Hayawadanrao Hoskot Vs. State of
Maharastra12 where Justice Krishnaiyer, V.R. stated: -

“If a prisoner sentenced to imprisonment is virtually unable to exercise his

constitutional and statutory right of appeal inclusive of special leave of appeal for want
of legal assistance, there is implicit in the court under Article 142 read with Article 21
and 39-A of the Constitution, power to assign counsel for such imprisoned for doing
complete Justice”.

Inspite of all these provisions, the concept of Justice still remains out of reach of our
marginalized people. Due to poverty, ignorance and delay we somewhere fail to provide
Justice to our people. To them law still remains an enigma and justice inapproachable.

“What does it profit a poor and ignorant man that he is equal to his strong
antagonist before the law if there is no one to inform him what the law is? Or that the
courts are open to him on the same terms as to all other persons when he has not the
wherewithal to pay the admission fee.”13

Under such circumstances the National Commission to Review the Working of

Constitution (NCRWC) wanted to incorporate this right as Fundamental Right as per Article
39A in the Constitution.

11
AIR 1979 SC 1369
12
1978 AIR 1548
13
Quoted by American Jurist Prof. Vanee of Yale in M.H.Hoskat Vs. State of Maharastra.
ACCESS TO COURTS AND TRIBUNALS AND SPEEDY JUSTICE

i. Everyone has a right to have any dispute be resolved by the application of law
decided in fair public hearing before a court or tribunal or forum or where appropriates,
another independent and impartial, court, tribunal or forum.
ii. The right to access to court shall be deemed to include the right to reasonably speedy
and effective justice in all matter before the courts, tribunals or other forum and State shall
take all reasonable steps to achieve that object.

ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND PIL

If the lamp of justice goes off you cannot imagine the amount of darkness. P.I.L. is one
of the modern ways of making justice accessible to our marginalized section.

“Something in which the public, the community at large has pecuniary interest or
some interest by which their legal rights or liabilities are affected. It does not mean
anything too narrow as mere curiosity, or as the interest of particular localities, which
may be affected by the matters in questions. Interest shared by the citizens generally in
affair of local, state or national government……..”14

Justice P.N.Bhagwati started a chapter of Justice by evaluating the concept of P.I.L. in

the case of S.P.Gupta Vs. Union of India15 he heralded new era of justice as now courts
permit that any member of public or social action group acting bonafide for defending the
constitutional and Legal rights of the weaker sections.

He further broadened this concept in Democratic Rights Vs Union of India16 wherein he

stated:-
“It would not be right or fair to expect a person acting pro bonus public to incur
expenditure out of his bay for going to a lawyer ad preparing a regular writ petition. In
such a case a letter addressed by him can legitimately by regarded as an appropriate
proceeding.”
The scope of common rule of “locus standi” was broadened and the old conservative
stand was discarded to increase the access of justice for marginalized people.

14
Definition of Public Interest in Black’s Law Dictionary (6 th edition)
15
AIR 1982 SC149
16
AIR 1982 SC 1473
 Justice Krishnaiyer mentioned: -
“The centre of gravity is to shift, as to the preamble of the constitution mandate
from the traditional individualism of locus standi to community orientation of Public
interest litigation”.

P.I.L. has ameliorated the miseries of thousands of people, including people belonging
to marginalized sections of society, which has arisen mainly out of repression, governmental
omissions or excesses, administrative lethargy or arbitrariness or non-enforcement of
beneficial legislation. Cases of marginalized people including under trials and convicted
prisoners, women in protective homes, unorganized labourers, untouchables, miseries of
scheduled castes and tribes, landless agricultural labourers, slum-dwellers, etc. are taken up in
P.I.L.

In case of Olga Telis, the right of slum-dwellers was upheld by the Supreme Court by
stating that the rights to shelter forms an integral part of the rights to life with dignity, and it
is the right to a dignified life which has to be restored and upheld by the courts in this
country.

In Bihar legal support society Vs. The Chief Justice of India & others17 the Supreme
Court has pronounced the essence of justice in the following words: -

“The weaker sections of Indian society have been deprived of justice for long
years; they have had no access to justice on account if their poverty, ignorance and
illiteracy……. The majority of the people of our country are subjected to this denial of
‘access to justice’ and overtaken by despair and helplessness; they continue to remain
victims of an exploitative society where economic power is concentrated in the hands of
few and it is used for perpetuation of domination over large masses of human
beings……. The strategy of public interest litigation has been evolved by this court with
a view to bringing justice within the easy reach of the poor and disadvantages sections
of the community”.

P.I.L. has opened a new path of justice to the weaker and marginalized people of India.
Legal professionals, academicians, law students and various other people are continuously

17
AIR 1987 SC 38
trying to remove the miseries and strengthen the weaker sections through Public Interst
Litigation.

“Into the mouths of these dumb, pale and meek,

we have to infuse the language of the soul.
Into the hearts of these weary and worn, dry and forlorn,
we have to minstrel the language of humanity.”18

ROLE OF N.G.O.s IN MAKING JUSTICE ACCESSIBLE

“The evolution of the human rights movement clearly illustrates humanity’s ongoing
struggle towards creating a settler world”19

The Role of N.G.O.s is also important in ensuring justice to all in a democratic country.
There are thousands of N.G.O.s across the country working day and night to provide justice
accessible to the suppressed section of our society.

Vishaka and others Vs. State of Rajasthan20

Vishaka and others Vs. State of Rajasthan was a 1997 Indian Supreme Court case
where Vishaka and other women groups filed Public Interest Litigation (P.I.L.) against State
of Rajasthan and Union of India to enforce the fundamental rights of working women under
Article 14, 19 & 21 of the Constitution of India. The petition was filed after Bhanwari devi, a
social worker in Rajasthan was brutally gang raped for stopping a child marriage.
The court decided that the consideration of “International Conventions and norms are
significant for the purpose of interpretation of the guarantee of gender equality, right to work
with human dignity in Article 14, 15, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution and the safeguards
against sexual harassment implicit therein.”
The petition resulted in what are popularly known as the Vishaka Guidelines. The
judgment of August 1997 given by a bench of J.S.Verma(then C.J.I.), Sujata Manohar and
B.N. Kirpal, provided the basic definitions of sexual harassment at the workplace and

18
Rabindra Nath Tagore’s writing.
19
Robert Alan’s writing.
20
AIR 1997 SC 3011
provided guidelines to deal with it. It is seen as a significant legal victory for women groups
in India.21

N.G.O.s have raised the voices of marginalized sections by various means ranging from
demonstration and pilot projects to participation in public forums and the formation of
government policy and plans, to publishing research results and case studies of the poor.

The 21st century will be an era of N.G.O.s22

“India is estimated to have 1 million - 2 million N.G.O.s. They have a vital role to play
in promotion and protection of human right specially in developing country”

N.G.O.s play a pivotal role in many fields, such as in prevention of H.I.V. / A.I.D.S.,
educate, to teach about child-care, child exploitation, child labour, bonded labour in sex
tourism and providing counseling in number of matters including domestic disputes in subject
relating to right of women and children & so on.

The World conference on human rights was held in Vienna in Austria in 1993, with
objective to review and assess the progress made in the field of human rights. The resolution
no. 38 of the declaration & the world conference on human rights recognizes the importance
of role of non-governmental organization in the promotion of all human rights and in
humanity.

NATIONAL LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITY (NALSA)

The Constitution of India, in Article 39A provides for free legal aid to the poor &
weaker sections of the society and ensures Justice for all. Article 14 & 22(10) of the
Constitution makes it obligatory for the State to ensure equality before law and make such a
system which provides equal opportunity of Justice to all.

The National Legal Services Authority came into force on 9th November, 1995 under
the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987{Act no. 39 of 1987} to establish a nationwide
uniform network for providing free and competent legal service to the weaker section of the
society on the basis of equal opportunity. The Authority is also entitled with the task to

21
Editorial, “Sexual harassment at workplace”. The Indian Express. 26 January 2010.
22
Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary General
understand the needs of the society & accordingly lay down policies & Principles for making
legal services available under the Act,

The Legal Services Authorities have the following main functions on regular basis:

a) To Provide Free and Competent Legal Services to the eligible persons;

b) To organize Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes and
c) To organize legal awareness camps in the rural areas.

I. FREE LEGAL SERVICES

The Free Legal Services include:-

a) Payment of court fee, process fees and all other charges payable or incurred in
connection with any legal proceedings;
b) Providing service of lawyers in legal proceedings;
c) Obtaining and supply of certified copies of orders and other documents in legal
proceedings.
d) Preparation of appeal, paperbook including printing and translation of documents
in legal proceedings.

Persons eligible for getting free legal services include:-

i. Women and children;
ii. Members of SC/ST
iii. Industrial workmen
iv. Victims of mass disaster, violence, flood, drought, earthquake, industrial disaster.
v. Disabled persons.
vi. Persons in custody
vii. Persons whose annual income does not exceed Rs.1 lakh(in the Supreme Court
Legal Services Committee the limit is Rs. 5,00,000/-).
viii. Victims of Trafficking in Human beings or beggar.

From April, 2015 to December, 2018, total no. of 28.58 Lakh eligible persons including
women, children, persons in custody, persons belonging to SC/ST and backward categories
have been benefitted through various free legal services authorities, viz.
SLSAs/DLSAs/TLSc/Legal Aid Clinics/Village Legal Care and Support Centre’s.

II. LOK ADALATS

Lok Adalats are forum where disputes/cases pending in the court of law or at pre-
litigation stage can be settled/compromised amicably. Lok Adalats were provided Statutory
Status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 in Chapter – vi (Section – 19
onwards). The Act also states that the award(decision) made by the Lok Adalats is deemed to
be a decree of a Civil Court & is final and binding on all parties & no appeal against the
award lies before any court of law. Although there is no appeal possible against the Award,
the parties are free to initiate litigation by approaching court of appropriate Jurisdiction.

The Role of the member of the Lok Adalats (who is the statutory conciliator & non
of Judicial kind) is to persuade the parties to come to a conclusion for settlement outside the
court. He shall not pressurize or coerce any of the parties to compromise or settle matters
directly or indirectly. They should assist the parties in an unbiased manner.

During the period 01.04.2015 to 31.12.2018, 1,79,97,259 and 3.96 Lakh cases
has been disposed of by Regular Lok Adalats and Permanent Lok Adalats respectively.
Moreover, 4,42,88,595 cases has been disposed of by National Lok Adalats during 2015-
2018.

III. LEGAL AWARENESS PROGRAMMES

As a part of the preventive and strategic legal aid, NALSA through the State Legal
Services Authorities, conduct legal literacy programmes. Apart from rural legal literacy, legal
literacy programmes conducted every year in schools and colleges, in some states
empowerment of women in a routine manner, besides the rural legal literacy camps. During
the period 01.04.2015 to 31.12.2018, 5.35 Lakh Legal Awareness Camps were organized.

ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY

In 1992, the planning commission recognized the importance of computerization of

many districts courts across India between 1997-98. Thereafter a series of reform were set in
digitalization for courts starting from the year 2002, which was subsequently followed by a
centrally funded scheme for judicial infrastructure focusing on the computerization of 700
city courts in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai and 900 courts in cities where High
Courts were situated in 2004

In 2007, an e-committee (formed in 2004) submitted its first National Policy and Action
Plan for implementation of information and communication technology in the Indian
judiciary, eventually resulting in three courts project proposing the computerization of 14,948
subordinate courts in three stages. The 11th Five year plan had further earmarked funds to this
project in 2009. By mid-2015, the first phase ended resulting in completion of about 95% of
the project activities in terms of hardware provisions and service delivery and phase-2 of the
e-courts project was approved in July, 2015.

The use of technology is a very important step towards speedy delivery of justice and
transparency. Backlogs, delay, expenses are the major problems faced by the judiciary. These
can be overcome by an effective use of technology.

We can enhance productivity and reduce delays by the use of computers in the
following areas: -

a) Legal Information Data Base.

b) Online query system for precedents citation, codes, statutes, etc.
c) Generation of cause list and online statistical reports.
d) Online Caveat matching.
e) Online updating of dates, monitoring and “Flagging” of events.
f) Pooling of orders and Judgments.
g) Daily list generation with historical data of each case.
h) Word processing with standard templates including generation of
notices/processes.
i) Access to international database.
j) Feedback repots for use of various level.

Recently there has been tremendous increase in major initiative in I.T. at national level.
A task force setup by the P.M. has drawn up 108 recommendations with the objective of
developing India into an “I.T. Superpower”. Under the National e-governance plan, the
computerization of courts have been made as Mission mode Project (MMP) and it has been
proposed to implement information and communication technology in three phases over a
period of 5 years.

REMEDIES

“Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans,

upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
the emptiness of ages in his face,
and on his back the burden of the world.”
This line of Edwin Markhum shows the condition of marginalized section of society.
Many measures have been taken for improving their condition but a lot has to be done yet.

Following measures should be taken for uplifting the marginalized section of Society:

a) Justice is still unapproachable to our marginalized people because of poverty,

ignorance, social and political backwardness, illiteracy, etc. People should be
made aware of the rights and legal procedures provided to them by the
Constitution of India and statutes. Costs of litigation which makes the justice
inaccessible to the poor people, should be lowered to make justice available to
all
b) Legal information centers should be constructed to provide free or low cost
legal advice. Legal aid scheme can be supported by para legal aid schemes run
by N.G.O. The future lawyers at the law college level must be trained and
educated to give legal assistance to rural and tribal people to bring the desired
changes.
c) The desired effect of Justice can be obtained by establishing more A.D.R.
centers. Complex legal procedures and delays can be avoided and speedy
delivery of justice can be obtained through A.D.R.s.
d) Quality of Justice should be increased by establishing more number of courts,
filling the vacancies, reasonably increasing hours and increasing among
people awareness of their rights.
CONCLUSION

“Whatever we do we keep in mind the weakest person and ask how useful to him any
system would be”
This Gandhian dictum is a great value so far as the rights of weaker sections are
concerned. We have still a long way to go to make justice accessible to all our people.
Framing laws are not enough. Law Academics, lawyers, judges, law students, etc. all should
come forward and work for our marginalized section of society.