The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday announced a pilot project for improving access to justice for prisoners of 16 Delhi jails by allowing law students to help them in filing bail applications and appeals.
The NHRC signed an MoU with Delhi Prisons, the National Law University, Delhi and the Delhi State Legal Services Authority, it said in a statement. The project would also help in fostering a sense of public service in the students of NLU.
“The aim of this collaborative exercise is also to promote and protect the human rights of prisoners besides inculcating professionalism among the law students. The students from NLU Delhi now may assist the prisoners in filing bail applications and appeals and other research work that may help the court with factual information and ensure early justice of the inmates under the supervision of the DSLSA,” it said.
Payment of stipend
The NHRC would monitor the project and provide the payment of stipend to the students. The NLU would nominate 48 third-year and above students, the NHRC said. The students would visit the prisons under the DSLSA legal aid counsels’ supervision for one week every month for a year, the NHRC said.
“The students will assist the DSLSA in spreading legal awareness, legal research, drafting, representation of cases before the court of law under the DSLSA empanelled lawyers. The DSLSA, besides the supervision of students for conducting survey of jail inmates, will appoint an advocate in each of the 16 jails of Delhi for this purpose. After the certification of the services of the students, they will be paid ₹300 per day conveyance allowance,” the NHRC said.
