Justice Dipak Misra, Judge, Supreme Court of India, has been nominated as Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee with effect from 27th November, 2016. A notification was issued to this effect by the Ministry Of Law And Justice (Department of Justice) (National Legal Services Authority) vide Notification F. No. 6(1)/95-NALSA dated 28 November, 2016.
This nomination was made in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3A of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 read with Rule 10 of the National Legal Services Authority Rules, 1995, by the Central Authority under the said provisions. The Notification No. S.O. 115(E) dated 09.02.2000, was amended accordingly.
It may be pointed out that to remove the general perception that approaching the Supreme Court for legal remedies is unaffordable to the lay person, and with a view to providing easy and inexpensive access to the Supreme Court and giving legal advice, the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC) has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.
At present, the SCLSC consists of the following members:
Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Judge, Supreme Court of India is the Chairman. Now, Justice Dipak Misra will replace Justice Khehar.
Ms. Jasmine Sharma, Deputy Registrar, Supreme Court of India is the Secretary.
There are four Ex-officio Members of SCLSC, namely (1) Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Attorney General for India; (2) Mr. Ravindra Maithani, Secretary General, Supreme Court of India; (3) Mr. Ajay Narayan Jha, Special Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance; and, (4) Mr. Atul Kaushik, Joint Secretary, Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice.
In addition, there are five other members of SCLSC, namely: (1) Mr. M.N. Krishnamani, Senior Advocate; (2) Mr. Krishnan Venugopal, Senior Advocate; (3) Mr. K.V. Vishwanathan, Senior Advocate; (4) Mrs. Nanita Sharma, Advocate; and, (5) Ms. Anitha Shenoy, Advocate, Supreme Court of India.
