The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has directed that the contracts of Legal Aid Defense Counsels (LADCs) engaged under the Legal Aid Defense Counsel System (LADCS) Scheme in Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh will not be renewed from September 2026 onwards.

In a communication dated August 4, 2026, addressed to the Member Secretaries of all State Legal Services Authorities, NALSA's Member Secretary Sanjiv Pandey stated that the decision follows a meeting held on August 3, 2026 with representatives of the Bar Associations of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, who had raised concerns regarding the implementation of the LADCS Scheme.

According to the communication, the Competent Authority urged the Bar representatives to submit specific and constructive inputs on the operational loopholes in the Scheme, noting that a Committee constituted to revisit the LADCS Scheme is already in place.

Pending this review, the Competent Authority has directed that:

LADC contracts in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh will not be renewed from September 2026.

In the remaining States and Union Territories, LADC contracts will not be renewed upon completion of their existing contractual tenure.

District Judges of the concerned districts have been directed to assign legal aid matters to members of the Bar, preferably young lawyers, in place of the LADCs.

The communication asks State/UT Legal Services Authorities to place the matter before their respective Executive Chairpersons.

The LADCS Scheme was introduced to provide dedicated, salaried defense counsel to accused persons who cannot afford legal representation, modelled loosely on public defender systems, as an alternative to the earlier legal aid panel-lawyer system.

Lawyers, especially in Punjab, have been on strike for over a month opposing the LADCS, contending that it establishes a parallel, State-funded criminal defence mechanism that adversely impacts the practice of independent advocates.

The protest gradually extended to several districts in Haryana and Chandigarh. In an effort to resolve the impasse, multiple rounds of discussions were held between Bar bodies and judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association also joined the agitation last week, suspending work at the High Court. Lawyers further organized demonstrations within the High Court premises to show solidarity.