Judiciary to provide free legal aid to needy litigants in Haripur

HARIPUR: The district judiciary would provide free legal aid and financial assistance to the poor complainants and litigants from the platform of District Legal Empowerment Committee (DLEC), a judicial officer said on Wednesday.

Senior Civil Judge, Administration, Tahira Zainab Malik told reporters that the DLEC was the initiative of the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan that was being implemented throughout the country under the district legal empowerment fund.

Briefing the media about the objectives of the DLEC, the senior civil judge said that District and Sessions Judge Jahanzeb Khan Shinwari was the chairperson of the committee which would approve financial assistance, legal aid, order release of funds for payment of court fees, etc.

She said that a needy applicant could directly seek financial and legal assistance by filing a simple application with the copy of CNIC in the office of DLEC Chairperson.

She said that the needy jail inmates facing trial in different cases could also send their applications to the DLEC with due verification and attestation of jail superintendent. “But they have to submit the proof of their cases with their applications,” she added.

She said that there was no yardstick that fixed how many and which kind of cases could be entertained during a month as it would be purely the discretion of the committee to decide.