Impoverished & marginalized groups often faced the brunt: Justice Kaul

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMarch 21, 2023

The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) organised the East-Zone Regional Conference on the theme “Enhancing Access to Justice” at Taj Vivanta Hotel, Shillong on Saturday.

Inaugurating the conference, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Judge, Supreme Court of India & Executive Chairman, NALSA highlighted some of the data and figures relating to cases faced by the underprivileged sections, 70% of the under trials are from the socially vulnerable section, 89% were found to be illiterate, 41% had not completed their secondary education and 72% of the under trials belong to socially vulnerable categories and other backward classes.

This shows that the impoverished and marginalized groups often faced the brunt of the arbitrary address, detention and custodian violence and procedural protections built into the law are often violated, he said.

The Supreme Court Judge along with other dignitaries released the Newsletter of the Meghalaya State Legal Services Authority titled “New Light” issue VII.

The inaugural session was followed by a technical session wherein the State Legal Services Authorities of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal and UT Andaman & Nicobar gave a presentation on “Identification of issues / challenges and sharing best practices”.

The Conference is attended by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge, Supreme Court of India as the Special Guest, Justice Sanjib Banerjee, Chief Justice, High Court of Meghalaya & Patron-In-Chief, MSLSA, Justice H.S. Thangkhiew, Judge, High Court of Meghalaya & Executive Chairman, MSLSA and Justice W. Diengdoh, Judge, High Court of Meghalaya & Chairman, HCLSC.