"Justice at the doorstep" for soldiers: Justice Surya Kant on new NALSA legal aid scheme for armed forces

The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) on Friday launched the Veer Parivaar Sahayata Yojana 2025, a structured legal aid initiative for members of the armed forces and their families, at a regional conference in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir..The scheme was formally introduced by Supreme Court judge and Executive Chairman of NALSA, Justice Surya Kant, who said that the newly launched scheme marked “a historic first step” in extending institutional legal support to defence personnel.Speaking at the North Zone Regional Conference on “Reaffirming the Constitutional Vision of Justice for Defence Personnel and Tribals,” Justice Suryakant added,“While our soldiers stand vigilant at the nation’s borders, we in the legal fraternity will stand equally vigilant in protecting their rights and their welfare at home.”The launch took place on the eve of Kargil Vijay Diwas and also marked 30 years of NALSA’s legal aid framework under Article 39A of the Constitution of India..The Veer Parivaar Sahayata Yojana will be implemented through Legal Services Clinics set up at Zilla, Rajya and Kendra Sainik Boards. These clinics will function as access points for serving and retired defence personnel seeking legal help.“These Boards already serve as vital nodal centres where serving and retired personnel access welfare and support services. By partnering with them, we aim to bring legal aid directly to the doorsteps of our veer jawans and their families,” Justice Surya Kant said..The clinics will be staffed with Nodal Officers, Legal Aid Counsel and Para-Legal Volunteers. They are designed to resolve a wide range of legal issues, Justice Kant went on to inform.A key element of the scheme is a jurisdiction transfer system to assist soldiers posted far from their homes.“A clear mechanism for the transfer of applications has been instituted, enabling any clinic receiving an application to forward it directly to the jurisdiction where the dispute arises. This ensures that our brothers and sisters posted far from their homes can still pursue and manage their legal concerns without compromising their duties," Justice Kant explained. The scheme will also train ex-servicemen and defence family members as Para-Legal Volunteers.“When a volunteer assisting an applicant belongs to the same fraternity of service, the clinic instantly becomes a place of comfort and trust. Most importantly, this initiative blends the discipline and dedication of defence families with the ideals of legal empowerment," Justice Kant said, in this regard..The Supreme Court judge noted that defence personnel face a range of routine legal challenges just like any other citizen.“They too must contend with routine civilian challenges—land disputes, matrimonial issues, questions over service entitlements, or even something as ordinary as an inflated electricity bill.”Justice Kant went on to observe that such legal battles become harder when soldiers are posted in remote areas of the country. “A sipahi stationed in a remote post cannot simply leave his duty to attend to legal concerns, nor can he effectively pursue a matter pending far away. We cannot, for instance, expect a soldier serving in these very valleys of Jammu and Kashmir to personally manage a dispute concerning his home in distant Rajasthan," he pointed out. .Justice Surya Kant added that families of soldiers may be left to face these issues alone due to financial or educational limitations.“This frequent convergence of limited education, lack of legal awareness, and financial constraints places our veer jawans and their families in a deeply vulnerable position," he pointed out..Justice Surya Kant went on to observe that the Veer Parivaar Yojana falls within the mandate in Article 39A of the Constitution, which calls on the government to ensure equal justice and free legal aid for all citizens.He said the State cannot neglect its responsibility towards those who guard its sovereignty.“If we fail to extend this very support to our brothers and sisters in the military and paramilitary forces, we fall short of our duty. How can we speak of the strength of our Constitution if we cannot ensure that those who safeguard the integrity of this nation are themselves able to secure their own rights?”.During his address, Justice Surya Kant also touched upon NALSA’s tribal-focused SAMVAD Scheme. He said it was important to address legal concerns of tribal and nomadic communities in Jammu and Kashmir and other inaccessible regions.“Much like our armed forces, these communities too face significant challenges in accessing justice and availing the legal aid that is their constitutional guarantee," he said. .The event was also attended by Supreme Court judges, Justices PS Narsimha, Rajesh Bindal and N Kotiswar Singh, Union Minister of State in-charge of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha, and its Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.Chief Justices of the High Courts of Delhi, Allahabad, Punjab and Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand were among the other dignitaries present, along with Justice Arun Palli, Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, and other J&K High Court judges, namely Justices Sanjeev Kumar and Sindhu Sharma.Senior Army officers, including Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma and Lieutenant General Prashant Srivastava, and heads of legal services authorities from across the North Zone were present as well.