High Court Legal Services Committee Regulations,1998(Delhi)

1. Short title, extent and commencement.

2. Definitions.

3. The number, experience and qualification of the other members of the High Court Legal Services Committee Under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of Section 8-A :

4. Nominated Members –

5. Appointment of Secretary under sub-section (3) of Section 8-A of the Act.

6. The experience and qualifications of Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee under sub-section (3) of Section 8A

7. The terms of office and other conditions relating thereto, of members and Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee

8. Powers and functions of Committee

9. Functions and powers of the Chairman

10. Functions and powers of the Secretary

11. Meetings of the Committee

12. The number of officers and other employees of the High Court Legal Services Committee under sub-section (5) of Section 8A and the conditions of service and the salary and allowances payable to them under sub-secction (6) of that Section.

13. Entitlement of Legal Services

14. The experience and qualifications of other persons of the Lok Adalats organised by the High Court Legal Service Committee specified in sub-section (4) of section 19

15. Audit and Accounts of the Committee

16. Application for the Legal Services

17. Disposal of Applications

18. Modes of Legal Services

19. Legal Services not to be provided in certain cases

20. Legal services may be granted in certain cases

21. Honorarium payable to legal service advocates

22. Duties of aided person

23. Withdrawal of Legal Service

1. Short title and commencement

(1) These regulations may be called the High Court Legal Services Committee Regulations, 1998.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Office Gazette.

2. Definitions

In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires :

(a) “Act” means the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 (No.39 of 1987);

(b) “State Authority” means the Delhi Legal Services Authority constituted under Section 6 of the Act;

(d) “Committee” means the High Court Legal Services Committee;

(e) “High Court” means the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi;

(f) “Legal Service Advocate” means an Advocate who has been assigned any work related to legal services;

(g) “Member” means a member of the Committee;

(h) “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Committee appointed under sub-section (3) of Section 8(A) of the Act:

(i) All other words and expressions used in these regulations but not defined shall have the same meaning assigned to them in the Act.

3. The number, experience and qualification of the other members of the High Court Legal Services Committee Under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of Section 8-A :

(1) The High Court Legal Services Committee shall have eight members including its Chairman. It will have the following, ex-officio members, namely :

(2) Ex-Officio Members :

(i) Secretary (Law, Justice & Legislative Affairs Department). Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, Delhi;

(ii) Secretary (Finance Department), Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, Delhi;

(iii) Commissioner of Police, Delhi The Chief Justice shall nominate four members from the category of the nominated members.

4. Nominated Members –

A person shall not be qualifed for nomination as a member of the High Court Legal Services Committee unless he/she is :-

(a) A graduate and an eminent social worker who is engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections of the people, including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women, Backward Classes, Children, rural and urban labour; or

(b) Two advocates having interest in free legal services for a period of one year; or

(d) Any law teacher or a person of repute who is specially interested in the implementation of the legal services schemes.

5. Appointment of Secretary under sub-section (3) of Section 8-A of the Act.

The Chief Justice of High Court of Delhi shall appoint a person to be the Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee, possessing experience and qualifications as prescribed in Regulation on the recommendation of the Chairman, High Court Legal Services;
6. The experience and qualifications of Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee under sub-section (3) of Section 8A

A person shall not be qualified for appointment as Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee unless he is a member of the Delhi Higher Judicial Services;

Preference will be given to persons possessing administrative, financial and legal experience.

7. The terms of office and other conditions relating thereto, of members and Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee

(1) The terms of the office of a member of the Committee, other than ex-oficio member, shall be one year.
(2) Where a person is nominated as ex-officio member, such person shall cease to be the member of the Committee if he ceases to hold the post or office by virtue of which he has been nominated as an ex-officio member.
(3) Any vacancy in the office of a member of the Committee shall be filled up in the same manner as the originally appointed member and the person so nominated shall continue to be a member for the remaining period of term of office of that member in whose place he has been nominated.
(4) A member shall be given Rs. 300/- towards travelling expenses for attending the meeting.
(5) The term of office of the Secretary shall be two years or till the age of 60 years, whichever is earlier.
(6) In all matters like pay, allowances, benefits and entitlements, the Secretary shall be governed by rules as are applicable to the persons holding equivalent posts in his parent cadre and receive such honorarium as framed by the Chairman.
(7) The appointment of the Secretary may be on deputaion basis.
(8) The Secretary shall be governed by the service conditions of his parent cadre, in so far as disciplinary matters are concerned.

8. Powers and functions of Committee

(1) To administer and implement the Legal Services programme in so far as it relates to the High Court of Delhi;

(2) To receive and scrutinise applications for legal services and to decide all questions as to the grant of or withdrawal of legal services;

(3) To maintain a panel of advocates and senior advocates in the High Court of Delhi for providing legal advice;

(4) To decide all matters relating to payment of honorarium, costs, charges and expenses of legal services to the advocates and to senior advocates of the High Court of Delhi;

(5) To prepare and submit returns, reports and statistical information in regard to the legal services programme to the State Authority;

9. Functions and powers of the Chairman

(1) The Chairman of the Committee shall be in over all charge of administrative and implementation of the programmes of the Committee;

Provided that the Chairman shall not directly concern himself with any question as to grant or withdrawal of legal service to an person;

(2) The Chairman shall cause the meetings of the Committee convened through the Secretary at least once in a period of three months;

(3) The Chairman shall preside over the meetings of the Committee;

(4) The Chairman shall have all the residuary powers of theCommittee;

10. Functions and powers of the Secretary

(1) The Secretary shall be the principal officer of the Committee and shall be the custodian of all assets, accounts, records and funds at the disposal of the Committee;

(2) The Secretary shall maintain or cause to be maintained true and proper accounts of the receipts and disbursement of the funds of the Committee;

(3) The Secretary shall in consultation with the State Authorityconvene meetings of the Committee with the previous approval of the Chairman and shall also attend meetings and shall be responsible for maintaining a record of the minutes of the proceedings of the meetings:

11. Meetings of the Committee

(1) The Committee shall meet at least once in three months on such date and at such place as the Chairman may direct.

(2) The Chairman shall preside over the meetings of the Committee and in the absence of the Chairman, a person chosen by the members present from amongst themselves shall preside over the meetings of the Committee;

(3) The minutes of the proceedings of each meeting shall be truly and faithfully maintained by the Secretary and such minutes shall be open to inspection at all reasonable times by the members of the Committee. A copy of the minutes shall, as soon as may be, after the meeting, be forwarded to the Executive Chairman of the State Authority;

(4) The quorum for the meeting shall be three including the Chairman.

(5) All questions which come up before any meeting of theCommittee shall be decided by a majority of votes of the members present and voting, and in case of a tie, the Chairman or the person presiding shall have the right to exercise a second or casting vote

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12. The number of officers and other employees of the High Court Legal Services Committee under sub-section (5) of Section 8A and the conditions of service and the salary and allowances payable to them under sub-secction (6) of that Section.

(1) The High Court Legal Services Committee shall have such number of officers and other employees for tendering secretarial assistance and for its day-to-day functions as are set out in Schedule to these regulations or as may be notified by the Government from time to time;

(2) The officers and other employees of the High Court Legal Services Committee shall be entitled to draw pay and allowances in the scale of pay indicated against each post in the schedule to these regulations or at par with the employees of the Government holding equivalent posts;

(3) In all matters like age of retirement pay and allowances benefits and entitlements and disciplinary matters, the officers and other employees of the High Court Legal Services Committee shall be governed by the rules as are applicable to employees of the Government holding equivalant posts;

(4) The officers and other employees of the High Court Legal Services Committee shall be entitled to such other facilities, allowances and benefits as may be notified by the Government from time to time.

13. Entitlement of Legal Services

The upper limit of annual income of a person entitling him to legal services, under clause (h) of section 12, if the case is before the High Court of Delhi whose annual income from all sources does not exceed Rs. 25,000 (Rupees Twenty-five thousand only) shall be entitled to legal services under clause (h) of section 12 of the Act.

14. The experience and qualifications of other persons of the Lok Adalats organised by the High Court Legal Service Committee specified in sub-section (4) of section 19

A person shall not be qualified to be included in the Lok Adalat unless he is :

(a) a member of the legal profession; or

(b) a person of repute who is specially interested in the implementation of the Legal Services Scheme and Programme; or

(c) an eminent worker who is engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections of the people including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women, children, rural and urban labour.

15. Audit and Accounts of the Committee

(1) The Committee shall maintain a Fund to be called High Court Legal Services Committee Fund to which shall be credited :

(a) such amounts as may be allocated and granted to it by the State Authority;

(b) all such amounts received by the Committee by way of donations;

(c) all such amounts by way of costs, charges and expenses recovered from the persons to whom legal service is provided or the opposite party;

(2) All the amounts credited to the said fund shall be deposited in a nationalised bank.

Explanation : In the sub-regulation “nationalised bank” means a corresponding new bank as defined in the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1980.

(3) For the purpose of meeting incidental minor charges such as Court fee stamps and expenditure necessary for obtaining copies of documents etc. a permanent advance shall be placed at the disposal of the Secretary of the Committee;

(4) All expenditure on legal service, accommodation and staff of the Committee as also expenditure necessary for carrying out the various functions of the Committee shall be met out of the Funds of the Committee and in accordance with the prior approval of the Chairman;

(5) The funds of the Committee may be utilised for meeting the expenses incurred on or incidental to travels undertaken by the Chairman or the Secretary in connection with legal services activities. The travelling allowance and the dearness allowance payable to the Chairman and the Secretary shall be such as to which they are entitled by virtue of their respective offices;

(6) The Secretary of the Committee shall operate the bank accounts of the Committee in accordance with the directions of the Chairman;

(7) The Committee shall cause to be made and maintained true and correct accounts of all the receipts and disbursements and furnish quarterly returns to the State Authority;

(8) The accounts of the Committee shall be audited annually by a qualified auditor and submitted to the State Authority.

16. Application for the Legal Services

(1) Any person deserving legal services for bringing or defending any action in the High Court may make an application in writing in that behalf. However, if the applicant is illiterate or is not in a position to write, the Secretary or an officer of the Committee shall record his verbal submission and obtain his thumb impression/signature on the record and such record will be treated as his application.

(2) The Committee shall maintain data/or a register of applications wherein all applications for legal services shall be entered and registered date wise and the action taken on such applications shall be noted against the entry relating to the applications.

17. Disposal of Applications

(1) On receipt of an application for legal service mentioned in Regulation 15, the Secretary shall first cause the eligibility of the applicant as per the provisions of the Act read with the rules, examined and determined.

(2) If the applicant satisfies the eligibility criteria, the Secretary shall proceed to examine the merit of his application. For examining the merits of the application, the Secretary may take the assistance of legal services advocates or other advocates willing to provide free legal advice. The Secretary shall not be precluded from seeking more than one opinion if any particular case requires in-depth examination.

(3) In case the applicant satisfies the eligibility criteria and also has merit in his application, the Secretary shall proceed to decide the mode of legal service.

(4) An application for the grant of legal services in any matter if it is not found fit, may be rejected, for the reasons to be recorded in writing, by the Secretary.

(5) The applicant whose applications for grant of legal services has been rejected may prefer an appeal before the Chairman for a decision.

(6) In case of refusal for the grant of legal services, the Secretary shall inform the applicant in writing of such refusal.

18. Modes of Legal Services

Legal services to be provided may include any one or more of the following :-

(a) payment of court fees, process fee and all other charges payable or incurred in connection with any legal proceedings;

(b) charges for drafting; preparing, filing of any legal proceedings and representations by a legal practitioner in legal proceedings;

(c) cost of obtaining any certified copy/copies of judgments, orders and other miscellaneous expenses in legal proceedings;

(d) cost of preparation of paperbook (including paper, printing and translation of documents) in legal proceedings and expenses incidental thereto.
19. Legal Services not to be provided in certain cases

Legal Services shall not be given in the following cases namely:

(1) Proceedings wholly or partly in respect of :

(a) defamation; or

(b) malicious prosecution;

(d) perjury.

(2) Proceedings relating to any election.

(3) Proceedings incidental to any proceedings referred to in item (1) and (2);

(4) Proceedings in respect of offences where the fine imposed is not more than Rs. 50;

(5) Proceedings in respect of economic offences and offences against social laws, such as, the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1995;
Provided that the Chairman may in an appropriate case grant legal service even in such proceedings.

(6) Where a person seeking legal service:

(a) is concerned with the proceedings only in a representative or official capacity; or

(b) is a formal party to the proceedings, not materially concerned in the outcome of the proceedings and his interests are not likely to be prejudiced on account of the absence of proper representation.

20. Legal services may be granted in certain cases

Irrespective of the means test, legal service may be granted :

(a) in cases of great public importance.

(b) in a special case, reasons for which to be recorded in writing, is considered otherwise deserving of legal services.

21. Honorarium payable to legal service advocates

(1) The legal service advocate shall be paid such honorarium as may be fixed by the Committee.

(2) No legal service advocate to whom a case is assigned either for legal advice or for legal service shall receive any fee or remuneration either in cash or in kind or any other advantage, monetary or otherwise, from the aided person or from any other person on his behalf.

(3) The legal service advocate who has completed his assignment shall submit a statement showing the honorarium due to him together with the report of the work done in connection with the legal proceedings conducted by him on behalf of the aided person, to the Secretary of the Committee, who shall after due scrutiny sanction the fee and expenses payable to him. It will however, be open to the legal service advocate to waive the honorarium wholly or partially. In case of any dispute on the quantum payable to the legal service advocate the matter shall be placed before the Chairman for decision.

22. Duties of aided person

(1) A person seeking legal service shall comply with any requisition or direction that may be made upon him by the Secretary of the Committee or any of its members from the date the application for legal service is made till he enjoys the legal service granted to him.

(2) Every such person shall execute an undertaking in the form annexed hereto that in the event of the Court passing a decree or order in his favour awarding costs to him or other monetary benefit or advantage, to repay by way of reimbursement to the Committee all costs, charges, and expenses incurred by the Committee in giving him legal service. For effecting such reimbursement, he shall authorise the Secretary of the Committee. The costs, charges and expenses so recovered shall be credited to the Fund of the Committee.

(3) Every aided person or his representative shall attend the office of the Committee as and when required by the Committee or by the legal service advocate rendering legal aid to him and shall furnish full and true information and shall make full disclosure to the legal service advocate concerned and shall attend the court, as and when required, at his own expense.

23. Withdrawal of Legal Service

(1) The Committee may either on its own motion or otherwise withdraw legal service granted to any aided person in the following circumstances, namely:

(a) In the event of it being found that the aided person was possessed of sufficient means or that he obtained legal service by misrepresentation or fraud;

(b) in the event of any material change in the circumstances of the aided person;

(d) in the event of the aided person not co-operating with the Committee or with the legal service advocate assigned by the Committee;

(e) in the event of the aided person engaging a legal practitioner other than the one assigned by the Committee;

(f) in the event of death of the aided person except in the case of civil proceedings where the right or liability survives;

(g) in the event of the application for legal service or the matter in question is found to be an abuse of the process of law or of legal service:

Provided that legal service shall not be withdrawn without giving due notice thereof to the aided person or to his legal representatives in the event of his death, to show cause as to why the legal service should not be withdrawn. (2) Where the legal services are withdrawn on the grounds set out in clause (a) above, the Committee shall be entitled to recover from the aided person the amount of legal service granted to him.

AFFIDAVIT

I, __________________________, aged about _________ years s/o d/o w/o Shri ______________________ resident of _______________ __________________________________________________________ do hereby solemnly affirm and state as under :-

(1) (a) I belong to a member of a Schedule Castes/Scheduled Tribes
(b) I am a victim of trafficking in human beings or begar.
(c) I am eligible for legal service. I am a woman/child.
(d) I am a mentally ill or otherwise disabled person.
(e) I am a person under circumstances of undeserved want being a victim of a mass disaster, ethnic violence caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster.

(f) I am an industrial workman.
(g) I am in custody.
(h) My annual income from all sources is below Rs. ________________ (Rupees ________________________)

(2) I shall comply with any requisition and direction that may be made by the secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee.

(3) I shall furnish full and true information of all facts of my case to the legal service advocate to be provided by the Committee.

(4) I seek to approach the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi.
(a) In appeal from the Judgment of __________________________
___________________________________________________
________________________ in _________________________

(b) in writ jurisdiction for __________________________________
____________________________________________________

(5) I hereby agree that in the event of the Court passing a decree or order in my favour awarding cost to me or other monetary benefit or advantage, I shall repay by way of reimbursement to the Committee, all costs, charges and expenses incurred by the Committee in giving me legal service. I hereby also authorise the Secretary to do all such acts and things as may be necessary for recovery of the amount decreed or ordered to be paid to me and to reimburse the same for the above mentioned purpose.

(6) I agree that my case be listed before Lok Adalat in Hon’ble High Court, if at any stage it is considered by the Committee that my matter can be reconciled or settled through Lok Adalat.
DEPONENT

Verification :
I, Shri/Smt./Km. _______________________ the above named deponent do hereby verify that the contents of the paras 1 to 4 are true and correct to my knowledge; nothing stated therein is false and nothing has been concealed. So help me God.
Verified on this day of ____________________ of 200________ at New Delhi.

DEPONENT
By Order and in the name of the Patron-in-Chief
of the Delhi Legal Services Authority
Sd/-
Member Secretary
Delhi Legal Services Authority, New Delhi