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Programme on legal support

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, April 6 - Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court Ajit Singh today released the annual calendar of the Assam State Legal Services Authority (ASLSTA), synchronizing with the launching of a reach-out programme which aims to facilitate legal support to the voiceless population.

At a function organised at the Gauhati High Court, different stakeholders, including ASLSA office-bearers, deliberated on various aspects related to rights and law of the land.

Justice Arup Goswami, while stressing the need to bridge the gap between the deprived population and the justice delivery system, said that free legal service for the poor and marginalised is viewed as a tool of empowerment and it should be advanced further.

�Ventilation of grievances is very crucial. A good section of the population is still not aware of their rights. If one is not aware of their rights, it is very difficult for them to get justice. The legal services authority pledges to reach out to this lot,� Justice Goswami said, explaining the importance of Article 39 A of the Constitution.

Justice Hrishikesh Roy of the Gauhati High Court said the very idea is to assist those who are unable to afford legal services. �I would instead like the mission to be called Mission Reach Out and Respond. The impetus should also be to cover those who are reluctant and mostly shy away from seeking court intervention,� Roy pointed out. He also urged media personnel to play the role of para-judicial volunteers so that justice is done to as many persons as possible. �No matter how many of them we can eventually bail out, one should do whatever he or she can at a given point of time,� he said.

�Access to law is an important quotient. It would be crucial to identify whom to reach out, how to reach out and what specifics are to be done to redress the grievance,� Roy added.

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