Low Payments, no respect: Why quality of free legal aid in districts is bad

About 20% of legal aid counsels identified a lack of infrastructure, such as designated chambers for interacting with clients

Ayush* is a legal aid counsel providing free services for criminal cases to those who cannot afford lawyers, at the Karkardooma District Court in Delhi. He makes about Rs 5,000 a month, on average, he told IndiaSpend.

In April 2022, former Supreme Court Justice Uday U. Lalit said: "Legal aid to the poor does not mean poor legal aid. There has to be better standard, better quality and better level," of legal aid, during a lecture in Karnataka.

But, for Ayush and several other legal aid lawyers IndiaSpend spoke to, there is little incentive to be part of the legal