Section Article

Debunking or Verifying: The Existence of the Right to Free Legal Aid
Author(s): Komal Chauhan

Abstract
Access to justice is widely regarded as an essential pillar of a democratic society. In many countries legislation and constitutional provisions guarantee free legal aid for economically and socially disadvantaged individuals. In India too the constitutional directive under Article 39A of the Constitution of India and the statutory enactment of Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 (LSAA) collectively aim to ensure that no citizen is denied justice by reason of economic or other disabilities. However decades after these provisions were put in place there remains a persistent debate: does the “right to free legal aid” exist in practice as a meaningful enforceable right — or does it remain largely aspirational? This paper investigates this question by scrutinizing the constitutional statutory framework judicial interpretations and empirical evidence from 2018 to 2020 regarding implementation of free legal aid.