HALSA Launches 'Nyay Mitra' Mobile Legal Clinics, SOP For Protection Of Persons With Disabilities
The Haryana State Legal Services Authority (HALSA) has launched two initiatives aimed at strengthening access to justice and facilitating grievance redressal for persons with disabilities.
Justice Deepak Sibal, Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and Executive Chairman of HALSA, launched “Nyay Mitra – Justice at Your Doorstep” and a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Complaint Redressal, Legal Aid and Protection of Persons with Disabilities, including Prisoners with Disabilities.
According to HALSA, the initiatives are intended to advance the vision of “Access to Justice for All” by taking legal services closer to citizens and strengthening institutional mechanisms for the protection of vulnerable persons.
Under the “Nyay Mitra – Justice at Your Doorstep” initiative, Justice Sibal flagged off four Mobile Legal Services Vans conceived as mobile extensions of Legal Services Institutions to provide last-mile access to justice. The vehicles will operate as Mobile Legal Services Clinics through planned “Justice Circuits” covering the entire State. Special focus will be given to remote and difficult-to-access villages, rural areas, aspirational blocks, industrial clusters, educational institutions and other underserved areas.
The Mobile Legal Services Vans will provide citizens with free legal aid, legal guidance, pre-litigation counselling, assistance in victim compensation claims, ADR services, Tele-Law consultations and assistance in accessing welfare schemes. They will also undertake legal awareness and legal literacy activities, particularly for women, children, senior citizens, industrial workers and other vulnerable sections. The mobile teams will be supported by panel advocates, para legal volunteers and other stakeholders to ensure effective assistance and follow-up.
On the same occasion, Justice Sibal launched the SOP for Complaint Redressal, Legal Aid and Protection of Persons with Disabilities, including Prisoners with Disabilities. The SOP aims to establish a uniform, accessible, rights-based and accountable mechanism for addressing complaints relating to abuse, violence and exploitation.
According to HALSA, the SOP gives practical effect to Section 7 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and seeks to ensure that complaints relating to abuse, violence and exploitation are treated as matters involving statutory rights rather than being trivialised as private, interpersonal or family disputes. The SOP also emphasises free and timely legal aid, institutional coordination, legal awareness and capacity-building.