The De Facto Applicability of Article 39A

One of the very few good deeds of the 42^nd Amendment , 1976 was the insertion of Art. 39A in the Indian Constitution. Article 39A provides for equality of justice and free legal aid. Legal aid can be provided in numerous ways but what is paramount is the actual provision of legal aid in the society.

   

Article 39A has been inserted as a part of the directive principle of state policy which does not mandatorily ask the state to provide legal aid. Article 39A read with Article 22 gives a deeper meaning to legal aid. Legal aid does not necessarily connote to an extra effort from the side of judiciary or the state. Speedy trial and speedy justice would also be big aid to the society. The concept of speedy trial was emphasized in the case of Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar, 1979 and this gave a deeper import to the axiom justice delayed is justice denied. People should be informed about the arrest and should be given the opportunity to choose lawyers as per Art. 22 of the Indian Constitution, but people are unaware of such things and so suffer a lot. Some criminals rot in the jail for umpteen years just because their case has not been decided due to lack of evidence or even after the verdict is given police does not allow them. All these are ground realities . The words of the constitution are sugarcoated and this layer which is a sham needs to be uncovered. If people are in a very poor economic condition, then the amount taken for the red-tapism in the courts should be reduced. But the problem is that despite the fact that Justicia is blind-folded, its materialism and monetary avarice never fades away.

In courts, the dispute is not solved instead, the apple of discord is itself eaten. The people are left in limbo and no party receives justice in the end. The Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADRs) inclusive of Lok Adalats, Arbitration, Mediation, and Conciliation should be strengthened by placing stalwarts in such dispute resolution mechanisms. In this way, efficiency of case disposals increases and there is speedy justice. On the other hand, people should also take due care that futile cases are not brought up which swell the courts and waste their precious time which in turn affects the society. Also, Legal Services Authority namely NALSA, DLSA and respective state legal services authority should conduct more and more seminars and inculcate better judicial knowledge in the people and make the judicial proceedings faster. Legal aid is an important factor in the growth of a country and so the courts should also emphasize more on constructive proceedings rather than procrastinating proceedings. The idea of "tareekh pe tareekh" should be seriously taken into consideration and a small idea presented in a film highlights the grave situation in the country's deteriorating judicial system. The need of the hour is to convert the de jure words of the constitution into de facto justice.