The Supreme Court, on Thursday, declared that a plea requesting the implementation of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) women integrated help system across India is not justiciable. The bench, comprised of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, suggested that the matter should be addressed administratively by NALSA rather than judicially.
The plea, represented by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, argued for the expansion of a pilot project that has been operational in Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh for over three years. This integrated system, combining the 181 women helpline and the NALSA legal aid helpline 15100, aims to provide women and girl survivors of violence seamless access to justice and government support services.
During the proceedings, the Supreme Court bench granted a six-week period for NALSA’s counsel to submit a report outlining the authority’s stance on the matter. In a prior hearing in September 2023, the court had emphasized the need for a comprehensive report from NALSA regarding the implementation of the scheme advocated by the petitioners.
The petitioner’s advocate, Satya Mitra, described the project as a “successful project” that merited replication nationwide. The integrated system is designed to empower women and protect them from violence by providing easy access to the criminal justice system, welfare entitlements, and other NALSA schemes. According to the petition, expanding this system across all states and union territories would not entail additional costs since the required software is available for free and the schemes involved are already funded.
