Parliament Question: Legal Aid and Access to Justice

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3435 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 07th AUGUST 2026 LEGAL AID AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE

3435. SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN:

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

(a) the utilisation rate of the funds released to State Legal Services Authorities (SLSA) during 2025-26 and the reasons for underutilisation, if any, State-wise;

(b) the number of legal aid applications rejected by District Legal Services Authorities

(DLSA) and the grounds for such rejection;

(c) the average time taken for the disposal of legal aid cases as compared with regular litigation; and

(d) the details of the internal review, if any, of the quality and effectiveness of legal aid counsel empanelled under the scheme? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

(a): The State/UTs-wise details of funds allocated by National Legal Services Authority

(NALSA) to State Legal Services Authorities (SLSAs) for implementation of various legal aid schemes and programmes are at Annexure A. The under utilisation of funds by some of the SLSAs was because of administrative and operational challenges due to introduction of Public Financial Management System (PFMS) Treasury Single Account (TSA) Hybrid Model which affected processing of payments.

(b): Under Section 13(1) of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, applications for legal aid are examined by the concerned Legal Services Authority and legal services are

provided to persons specified under Section 12 of the said Act. The data regarding the number of legal aid applications rejected by the District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) is not maintained by NALSA.

1(c): The disposal of cases in courts depends on several factors which, inter-alia, include availability of adequate number of Judges and Judicial Officers, supporting court staff and physical infrastructure, complexity of facts involved, nature of evidence, cooperation of stakeholders vis Bar, investigating agencies, witnesses, and litigants and proper application of rules and procedures.

(d): The Legal Aid Defense Counsel Scheme (Modified Scheme), 2022 provides a robust framework for monitoring and evaluation of performance of the Legal Aid Defense Counsels through the Monitoring and Mentoring Committees (MMCs).

***** 2ANNEXURE - A Statement referred to in reply to Lok Sabha unstarred Question No. 3435 for answer on

07.08.2026 – Legal Aid and Access to Justice Grants allotted to various State Legal Services Authorities (SLSAs) during the financial year 2025-26 - Legal Aid Defense Counsel System (LADCS) Scheme code- 4287 S. Amount Utilisation Name of the SLSA Amount utilised No. Allotted Rate (in %) 1 Andhra Pradesh SLSA 5,12,57,000 3,29,71,896 64.33 2 Arunachal Pradesh SLSA 2,12,85,000 2,09,76,500 98.55 3 Assam SLSA 23,46,23,000 22,38,96,791 95.43 4 Bihar SLSA 10,56,64,000 9,59,22,898 90.78 5 Chhattisgarh SLSA 10,00,00,000 9,48,19,729 94.82 6 Goa SLSA 1,36,89,000 1,02,13,951 74.61 7 Gujarat SLSA 15,07,62,000 14,34,53,855 95.15 8 Haryana SLSA 6,78,63,000 6,59,50,045 97.18 9 Himachal Pradesh SLSA 3,60,50,000 3,52,66,382 97.83 10 Jammu and Kashmir SLSA 8,15,00,000 7,54,68,755 92.60 11 Jharkhand SLSA 9,75,00,000 9,15,48,497 93.90 12 Karnataka SLSA 16,37,84,000 12,89,78,863 78.75 13 Kerala SLSA 6,99,00,000 6,47,88,820 92.69 14 Madhya Pradesh SLSA 15,44,76,000 14,25,39,896 92.27 15 Maharashtra SLSA 20,09,27,000 18,10,16,962 90.09 16 Manipur SLSA 2,08,72,000 2,08,72,000 100.00 17 Meghalaya SLSA 5,68,10,000 5,61,80,933 98.89 18 Mizoram SLSA 3,60,87,000 2,98,13,150 82.61 19 Nagaland SLSA 1,98,20,000 1,98,20,000 100.00 20 Odisha SLSA 5,75,00,000 5,47,42,769 95.20 21 Punjab SLSA 11,04,49,000 10,53,57,356 95.39 22 Rajasthan SLSA 13,27,22,000 12,33,86,928 92.97 23 Sikkim SLSA 1,14,80,000 1,13,91,020 99.22 24 Tamil Nadu SLSA 19,10,00,000 17,30,54,424 90.60 25 Telangana SLSA 11,80,00,000 11,44,28,557 96.97 26 Tripura SLSA 4,99,73,000 4,84,38,627 96.93 27 Uttar Pradesh SLSA 16,50,00,000 14,56,90,458 88.30 28 Uttarakhand SLSA 3,23,00,000 2,85,16,709 88.29 29 West Bengal SLSA 4,35,72,000 4,18,35,976 96.02 30 Andaman and Nicobar SLSA 5,00,000 5,00,000 100.00 31 Chandigarh SLSA 60,00,000 59,38,413 98.97 32 Dadra & Nagar Haveli SLSA 7,38,000 7,22,013 97.83 33 Daman and Diu SLSA 10,20,000 10,20,000 100.00 34 Delhi SLSA 6,50,00,000 6,26,78,393 96.43 35 Puducherry SLSA 41,15,000 38,85,439 94.42 36 Ladakh SLSA 22,00,000 21,88,320 99.47 TOTAL 267,44,38,000 245,82,75,325 91.92 3Grants allotted to various State Legal Services Authorities during the Financial Year 2025-26 from National Legal Aid Fund under the Scheme Code- 2298.

Utilisation S. Amount Name of the SLSA Amount utilised Rate (in %) No. Allotted 1 Andhra Pradesh SLSA 3,35,00,000 3,34,93,163 99.98 2 Arunachal Pradesh SLSA 8,30,00,000 8,30,00,000 100.00 3 Assam SLSA 4,10,00,000 4,09,57,375 99.90 4 Bihar SLSA 7,75,00,000 7,75,00,000 100.00 5 Chhattisgarh SLSA 80,00,000 76,91,691 96.15 6 Goa SLSA 81,00,000 76,48,003 94.42 7 Gujarat SLSA 19,05,00,000 19,05,00,000 100.00 8 Haryana SLSA 7,15,00,000 7,13,94,488 99.85 9 Himachal Pradesh SLSA 2,75,00,000 2,75,00,000 100.00 10 Jammu and Kashmir SLSA 7,40,00,000 7,39,99,286 100.00 11 Jharkhand SLSA 13,25,00,000 13,25,00,000 100.00 12 Karnataka SLSA 9,30,00,000 9,30,00,000 100.00 13 Kerala SLSA 13,20,00,000 13,20,00,000 100.00 14 Madhya Pradesh SLSA 1,00,00,000 99,50,000 99.50 15 Maharashtra SLSA 3,50,00,000 3,50,00,000 100.00 16 Manipur SLSA 6,70,00,000 6,70,00,000 100.00 17 Meghalaya SLSA 4,07,00,000 4,07,00,000 100.00 18 Mizoram SLSA 7,90,00,000 7,90,00,000 100.00 19 Nagaland SLSA 3,80,00,000 3,79,90,000 99.97 20 Odisha SLSA 4,40,00,000 4,40,00,000 100.00 21 Punjab SLSA 10,25,00,000 10,25,00,000 100.00 22 Rajasthan SLSA 8,75,00,000 8,74,99,934 100.00 23 Sikkim SLSA 1,25,00,000 1,24,97,047 99.98 24 Tamil Nadu SLSA 1,30,00,000 1,30,00,000 100.00 25 Telangana SLSA 60,00,000 60,00,000 100.00 26 Tripura SLSA 4,50,00,000 4,48,39,203 99.64 27 Uttar Pradesh SLSA 10,35,00,000 10,35,00,000 100.00 28 Uttarakhand SLSA 10,40,00,000 10,40,00,000 100.00 29 West Bengal SLSA 13,13,00,000 13,13,00,000 100.00 30 Andaman and Nicobar SLSA 27,00,000 20,21,455 74.87 31 Chandigarh SLSA 21,00,000 21,00,000 100.00 32 Delhi SLSA 15,25,00,000 15,25,00,000 100.00 33 Puducherry SLSA 80,00,000 80,00,000 100.00 34 Lakshadweep SLSA 20,00,000 19,99,918 100.00 35 Ladakh SLSA 82,50,000 78,21,332 94.80 Supreme Court Legal Services 3,50,00,000 3,46,17,098 36 Committee (SCLSC) 98.91 Mediation and Conciliation Project 60,00,000 53,85,007 37 Committee (MCPC) 89.75 TOTAL 210,76,50,000 210,44,05,000 99.85 ***** 4