Legal Services Institutions Must Ensure Support For All Sections Of Society And Inspire Them To Seek Justice: Justice MS Ramachandra Rao

Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice, Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao, while addressing the 5th State Level Meet of District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) of Jharkhand on March 23, 2025, emphasized that legal services institutions need to take a step to assure that the services provided by them reach all sections of society and inspire them to seek justice.

He also acknowledged the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority (JHALSA) for its excellent legal aid services under the dynamic leadership of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad, Judge, Jharkhand High Court and Executive Chairman, JHALSA.

Justice Rao emphasized that DLSAs are the point of first contact for the delivery of legal services and play an important role in the delivery of access to justice at the grass root level. He highlighted the achievement of Jharkhand as the best performing state at the 4th National Lok Adalat in 2024, with a 99.49% rate of disposal, which he termed as a result of the diligent work of the staff of JHALSA.

The event, held at Nyaya Sadan, JHALSA, commenced at 10:30 a.m. and was inaugurated by Justice Rao alongside Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad, Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary, Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi, and Justice Deepak Roshan.

During the welcome-cum-introductory address, Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad instructed Principal District & Sessions Judges serving as DLSA Chairmen to advise courts not to pass remand orders mechanically in cases involving petty offences.

Under the program, Chief Justice Rao also virtually opened Legal Aid Clinics at Amity Law School, Amity University, and Institute of Legal Studies, Ranchi University.

The vote of thanks was given by Kumari Ranjana Asthana, Member Secretary, JHALSA, who expressed gratitude to all the dignitaries and participants.

The inaugural program was followed by three technical sessions:

• Session I addressed providing quality legal aid through the LADCS and Panel System, analyzed current challenges, and reviewed the performance of DLSAs in the ADR mechanism.
• Session II focused on legal assistance to prison inmates and the provision of legal support at the pre-arrest, arrest, and remand stages.
• Session III covered accounts and audit matters.

The technical sessions were chaired by Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and co-chaired by Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi, Justice Deepak Roshan, and Kumari Ranjana Asthana. Resource persons included Dr. Alok Kumar, Associate Professor at Sarla Birla University, Ranchi; the Inspector General of Prisons and their team; the Deputy Inspector General of CID; and Mr. Faizan Ahmad, retired Senior Deputy Accountant General, Ranchi, Jharkhand.