Free legal aid and services in India is primarily the mandate of National Legal Services Authority and State Legal Aid Services authorities which has a wide presence throughout the country. However, the legal needs of people continue to grow requiring meaningful contribution from the legal community. The scheme is being offered under the umbrella scheme “Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice” (DISHA) Scheme launched for a period of five years - 2021-2026 by Ministry of Law and Justice. Pro Bono legal service (Nyaya Bandhu) Pro Bono legal service as a concept has not gained much momentum in the country and remains more of an ad hoc, individualized practice lacking an institutional structure. Pro Bono comes from the Latin expression "pro bono publico" meaning "for the public good". Many lawyers provide poor and underprivileged clients with valuable legal advice and support without seeking any professional fee. Unfortunately, this laudable tradition of public service has not received any deserving recognition. In many countries pro bono legal support has emerged as the dominant means of dispensing free representation to poor and underserved clients. The Constitution of India by virtue of Article 39 A directs the State to provide free legal aid to the poor and weaker sections of the society, to promote justice on the basis of equal opportunity. Further, Article 14 and 22 (2) of the Constitution ensures equality before law. Also, the United Nations Sustainable Development – Goal 16 underscores the obligation of States 'to ensure equal access to justice for all'. Keeping in line with these obligations and with a view to encourage pro bono legal services the Department of Justice (DoJ) intends to create a database of lawyers willing to provide their services to litigants identified under Section 12 of The Legal Services Authority Act of 1987. Objectives To improve efficiency and quality of pro bono legal services by providing assistance to pro bono advocates through law students To instill in young legal minds their responsibility to community by understanding and practicing pro bono legal services for the unassisted and disadvantaged persons in the societies How to access the services Lawyers/Advocates Eligibility of lawyers and legal professionals to register for the service Any advocate interested in becoming a part of this initiative must have a valid practicing licence from a State Bar Council. Advocates must submit their valid Enrolment Numbers and Certificates issued by their respective State Bar Council and/or the Bar Council of India at the time of registration under the programme. How to Register? The applicant must be registered with ServicePlus. If you already have a service plus id you can login with the same to register for pro bono. If you do not have a ServicePlus id, fill in the online registration form. To access the form, click here. Kindly read the terms and conditions before filling in the form. After registration you can login to create a profile for pro bono. You would be required to furnish proof of birth (eg. birth certificate or 10th/12th mark sheet) Citizens Who is eligible to apply for legal help Beneficiaries or Applicants, in order to avail the benefits under this programme must belong to one of the categories mentioned under Section 12 of The Legal Services Authority Act of 1987. These include: Member of a Scheduled Caste Member of a Scheduled Tribe; Victim of trafficking in human beings or begar as referred in article 23 of the Constitution; Woman or a Child; Person with disability; Person in custody; An industrial workman; Victim of a mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster; Person with annual income less than as specified under law; Other. Registration Citizens can register for the service using the following UMANG service portal; Nyaya Bandhu portal Mobile app - For android platform ; Once the user profile has been approved by Department, user can add the details of their case, by clicking on pro bono logo on Home screen and then clicking 'Add Case' link on top right corner of 'Applicant Cases' page. Allocation of cases - A case registered by an applicant is assigned to an advocate based on matching of two parameters Area of practice/Category of Case – Civil or Criminal Court of Practice/Court where case is pending – Name of Court This matching is done automatically through sifting of database of advocates stored under the programme. User will now, either be directed to 'Assign Advocate' page with list of advocates reflected based on a search accustomed to your case details OR in some cases, notified that an advocate will be assigned to your case by the Department. Once the added case has been accepted by an advocate the case details will reflect under 'Ongoing Cases' on 'Applicant Cases' page. Here the user can exchange regular updates with the assigned advocate. The assigned advocate may, when he is duly satisfied, mark your case as completed, once a final order has been made by the court. Source : Department of Justice, Government of India.