Former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachaliah launched the multilingual India Legal app, a helpline to enable citizens obtain legal assistance from their homes.
Mr. Venkatachaliah, who is also a patron-in-chief of India Legal Research Foundation, said the app will benefit a wide range of consumers, including a large legal community of 1.2 million lawyers and half-a-million students. “The app will help in disposing of around 70% new cases,” he added.
First call from Meerut
The first call on the app came from Meerut. An employee alleged that his employer did not give him money. Mr. Venkatachaliah directed him to file a case against the employer and to approach the High Court.
The second call came from Chennai. A woman, speaking in Tamil, said she was in a live-in relationship with a man who clicked her private photographs and was now blackmailing her. As per the woman, the man was threatening to upload her photographs on social media. Mr. Venkatachaliah advised her to file a complaint with the police.
Speaking about technology and the legal profession, G.S. Bajpai, Vice-Chancellor, National Law School, New Delhi, said the shape of the legal profession would be drastically impacted by the onslaught of technology in multiple ways. “There are software tools unique to the legal profession including case management system, contract management system, e-discovery software and virtual meeting software,” he added.
For underprivileged
Senior advocate and chairman of India Legal Research Foundation Pradeep Rai said the app will support a lot of people who are underprivileged and who do not have access to justice. Any individual can avail of this service through their nearest common service centres, or Jan Suvidha Kendra/Setu/e-Seva Kendra/Pragya Kendra, the release said.
