National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA) was formed on 9 November 1995 under the authority of the
Legal Services Authorities Act 1987
The ''Legal Services Authorities Act 1987'' is an Act of the Indian Parliament to enforce the provisions of Article 39 A of the Constitution guaranteeing the fundamental rights to all the citizens of the country. Article 39 A of the constitut ...
. Its purpose is to provide free legal services to eligible candidates (defined in Sec. 12 of the Act), and to organize
Lok Adalat
Lok Adalat is a Statutory Organization under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, and was created as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism used in India to resolve disputes/grievances outside courts. It is a forum where cases pending ...
s for speedy resolution of cases. The
Chief Justice of India
The chief justice of India (IAST: ) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India as well as the highest-ranking officer of the Indian Judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the president of India to appoint, in consultation w ...
is patron-in-chief of NALSA while the second senior-most Judge of the
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
is the Executive-Chairman. There is a provision for similar mechanism at state and district level also headed by Chief Justice of High Courts and Chief Judges of District courts respectively. The prime objective of NALSA is speedy disposal of cases and reducing the burden of judiciary.
The current Executive-Chairman of NALSA is Justice
Sanjay Kishan Kaul
Sanjay Kishan Kaul is currently the Most senior judge of Supreme Court of India. He is former chief justice of Madras High Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court and former judge of Delhi High Court. He has also served as acting chief justi ...