Legal AID Center -2014-2015

Faculty Coordinator: Dr. Sita Bhatia.

Legal Aid Centre:
In the academic year 2014-15, the Legal Aid Centre started working from 14-07-2014. The Centre has its meetings from Monday to Thursday from 12.30 p.m. to 3.00 p.m. The classes that participate in the activities of the Centre are I, II & III LL.B., II to V B.S.L.LL.B., M.L.L & L.W and LL.M.

The activities of the Centre include:

  • A. Conduct of Legal Literacy Camps in rural and urban areas.
  • B. Providing legal aid to the poor and needy.
  • C. Research
  • D. Legal Aid Clinics
  • E.Para-legal training / workshops.
  • A.  Legal Literacy Camps:

    • In this academic year, 11 legal literacy camps have been held both in rural and urban areas. They are :

    1. Legal Literacy Camp at Belawadevillage on 18-02-2015 :

      2. Dr. Nitish Nawsagary and Mr. Santosh Jaybhay organized this camp in association with the Gram Panchayat of Belawade. Keeping in mind the peculiar problems of the rural folks skits and speeches were prepared by the students of 2nd LL.B. Skits were based on common issues such as land laws and partition, skits on criminal trespass, easementary rights and mutation in 7/12 extracts. Speeches were also delivered by students on Right to Education, RTI and Domestic Violence and it was followed by interaction session.

      Apart from the assistance of Professors, student coordinator Amol Jadhav and Swati Narayane played a vital role in organising the camp.

    2.   Legal Literacy Camp at Wadgaon Maval village on 25-08-2014 :

      3. The was organized on 25th August 2014 by Dr. Nitish Nawsagaray and Mr. Santosh Jaybhay in association with the local Self Help Group. Keeping in mind the peculiar problems of the rural folks skits and speeches were prepared by the students of 2nd LL.B. Skits were based on common issues such as land laws and partition, criminal trespass, partition, easementary rights and mutation in 7/12 extracts. Speeches were also delivered by students on topics such as Right to education, RTI and domestic violence, and it was followed by question-answer session.

      Student co-ordinators Mr. Amol Jadhav (II LL.B.) and Ms. Swati Narayane (II LL.B.) assisted in organising the camp.

    3. Legal Literacy Camp at Paud village on 22-01-2015 :

      4. Dr. Nitish Nawsagaray and Mr. Santosh Jaybhay organized this camp with the help of Gram Panchayat of Paud. Students of II LL.B. spoke on laws pertaining to land and partition and performed skits. These skits were performed on issues like criminal trespass, partition, easementary rights and mutation in 7/12 extracts. Students spoke on laws like RTE Act, RTI Act and Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, etc. It was followed by question-answer session pertaining to land and matrimonial disputes.

      Student co-ordinators Mr. Amol Jadhav and Ms. Swati Narayane played vital role in organizing this camp.

    4. Legal Literacy Camp at Mavdi, Pune, on 28-08-2014 :

      5. A legal literacy camp was conducted by the a group of more than 20 students of V BSL under the guidance of Dr. Sanjay Jain, Mr. D.P. Kendre and Ms. Kashmira Lonkar in the Primary School, Mavdi, Pune on 28th August 2014. The students from V B.S.L. LL.B. made presentations on socio-legal issues like Right to Information (Gayatri Dharmadhikari and Sheryl Francis) and Right to vote (Rekee Prashar). Mr. Kendre made a presentation on the Land Acquisition Act and the Money Lending Act. Thereafter Dr. Sanjay Jain spoke on the Rights of Persons with Disability. The students performed a play on the interrelated issues of girl child education, child marriage, dowry prohibition and domestic violence, directed by student Tapasya Parihar followed by a poem on the agony of women. Owing to the rise in child labour, a group of students presented a play on child labour depicting the harassment faced by the children.  

    5. Legal Aid Camp at Junnar, Pune, on 19-12-2014 :

      6. ILS Law College organized a legal aid and awareness camp on 19th December 2014 at Usaran Jalwandi, Taluka Junnar, Pune from 4.00 to 7.00 in the evening.  For this camp, a team of 41 students of V B.S.L. LL.B. and I LL.B. accompanied by 3 teachers viz. Dr. Sanjay Jain, Mr. D.P. Kendre and Ms. Kashmira Lonkar had gone. All the people from the village including the Sarpanch and school students were present for the same.

      Hanumant Kejriwal presented a poem on women empowerment. Afterwards Ms. Kashmira Lonkar presented her thoughts on women related laws. Then ex-ILS student Lalit Joshi gave information to all the people present regarding Gram Panchayat Act. This was followed by Mr. Kendre’s speech on the Land Acquisition Act. There was question-answer session in the end.

      Taking into consideration that in today’s world consumers are taken for a ride, B.S.L. students presented an effective and informative skit named ’Consumer Forum’. They informed about the care which the consumer must take and the questions which they must raise. Also I LL.B. students presented a skit named ‘Yam’. In this skit, they threw light on female foeticide and made the villagers understand the importance of women.

      Then Dr. Sanjay Jain gave complete details and pointed out the niceties of the Manodhairya Scheme, 2013. The students presented a poem and a dance named ‘Aayushya’ (Life).

      The anchoring of this complete program including the vote of thanks was done by Gayatri Dharmadhikari.

    6. Legal Literacy Camp at Deepgriha Society, Tadiwala Road, on 27-08-2014 :

      7. Faculty members of LL.M. Ms. Priya Sondhi, Ms. Swati Kulkarni and Ms. Shaila Daware organized this camp along with 21 students of LL.M. Part I & II. Students spoke on laws pertaining to FIR, domestic violence, dowry prohibition, mental cruelty, property, child marriage, child abuse, sexual harassment, PC & PNDT etc. and performed skits on them. Student Mr. Hemant Wagh anchored the programme.

    7. Legal Literacy Camp at Deepgriha, Tadiwala Road, on 13-02-2015 :

      8. Ms. Priya Sondhi organized this camp. 20 students of LL.M. Part I & II participated. Students spoke on laws pertaining to child marriage, FIR, child abuse and sexual harassment, female infanticide, PC & PNDT Act, succession rights of women, and performed skits so as to make literacy programme more effective. Students Mr. Hemant Wagh and Mr. Kaushik Kulkarni anchored the programme and did the photography respectively.

    8. Legal Literacy Camp at Falode village in Ambegaon Taluka on 11-02-2015 :

    In this camp, around 20 students from II BSL LL.B. participated along with the co-ordinators. The co-ordinators were Dr. Banu Vasudevan and Ms. Mukta Mane. The camp was conducted in the school courtyard. The students performed various street plays and provided information on topics like fundamental duties, domestic violence, dowry prohibition, child labour, right to sanitation. Presentation was made on Right to Information and Anti-Superstition Act. There was a special session for career guidance on the request of the villagers. The faculty members gave legal counseling to women in 3 different cases. Villagers were impressed by various colourful posters made by the students on various issues. The Sarpanch of Falode village was very supportive and helpful.

  • B. Legal Aid to poor and needy:

    • In this academic year, there are cases in following courts :

    The college has pursued two cases in Supreme Court of India, 6 in Family Court and 1 in Labour Tribunal. Approximately, 100 cases came to the Legal Aid Centre and at the Legal Aid Clinics for consultation / negotiation / counseling / filing of cases in courts.  

  • C. Research / Publications:

    • Some of the faculty members have agreed to publish few laws important to the beneficiaries in simple Marathi language, like The Right to Education Act, 2010; The Protection of Women from Domestic violence Act, 2005; The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and others.

  • D. Legal Aid Clinics:

    • Legal Aid Clinics are attended by faculty members and students at Karve Institute, Deepgriha Tadiwala Road and Market Yard :

    1. Legal Aid Clinic at Karve Institute is attended by Ms. Ujjwala Sakhalkar and Mr. K.S. Waghmare.
    2. Legal Aid Clinic at Market Yard Deepgriha is attended by Dr. Deepa Paturkar, Ms. Sonali Jadhav and Ms. Mukta Mane.
    3. Legal Aid Clinic at Deepgriha, Tadiwala Road is attended by Dr. Sita Bhatia, Dr. Nitish Nawsagarya, Mr. D.P. Kendre and Ms. Kashmira Lonkar.
  • E. Para Legal Training / Workshops:

Two para-legal training / workshops have been conducted for Akanksha Foundation i.e. on 03-01-2015 and 17-01-2015. Each of these workshops was attended by more than 50 social workers and parents on the school committee. On 03-01-2015, the first workshop was inaugurated at the hands of Principal Vaijayanti Joshi and it was followed by 3 sessions, they were :

  1. Legal literacy on RTI – Dr. Nitish Nawsagarya spoke on the Act.
  2. Legal Literacy on PIL – Ms. Ujjwala Sakhalkar and Dr. Deepa Paturkar spoke on the subject.
  3. Legal Literacy on RTI – Dr. Sita Bhatia and Mr. K.S. Waghmare spoke on the subject.

Each of these sessions was followed by effective discussion.

Second workshop was held on 17-01-2015. Three sessions were conducted. They were :

  1. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 – Dr. Sita Bhatia and Dr. Paturkar spoke on the subject.
  2. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 – Ms. Ujjwala Sakhalkar and Mr. K.S. Waghmare spoke on the subject.
  3. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 – Ms. Anagha Joshi, Advocate, spoke on the subject.

All sessions were followed by question-answer session.

Court Visit:
A visit to the District and Sessions Court, Pune was organized under the legal aid activity for the students of 5 year BSL LLB and 1st LLB course on 10th January, 2015 with the faculty in-charge for the students-Associate Professor Dr. Sanjay Jain, Assistant Professor Mr. D.P. Kendre and Ms. Kashmira Lonkar. The students were asked to observe the court proceedings during their visit. Further a lecture was delivered by Senior Advocate Mr. M.P. Bendre on the ‘Practical Working of the Court and the Ethics & Role of Advocates.’ This was followed by question answer round. After the informative discussion, on the same day the students were also addressed by the Chairman of Legal Services Authority Cell, who briefed the students on the working of the Cell, the eligibility criteria for free legal aid and the need to settle the disputes outside the courts and through negotiation and Lok Adalat.

Adoption of a slum at Tadiwala Road, Deepgriha Society:
LL.M. students, as part of Practical Research Methodology Paper of LL.M. (Credit Course) examination, SP Pune University, have adopted a slum at Tadiwala Road, with the assistance of NGO Deepgriha Society, Tadiwala Road.

Legal Aid Awards and Letters of Appreciation:
Following awards were given to the students in appreciation of their active participation and meaningful contribution to the legal aid activity of the College :

Prof. S.P. Sathe Legal Aid Prize                       Ms. Tapasya Parihar, V BSL LL.B.
Raghavendra Phadnis Legal Aid Prize           Mr. Siddharth Kamble, III LL.B.
Legal Aid Centre Prize                                       Mr. Hemant Wagh, LL.M. Part II

Mr. Amol Jadhav of II LL.B., Mr. Hanumant Kajgir and Ms. Rekee Prashar of V B.SL.LL.B. were given letters of appreciation for the their contribution to the Legal Aid activity of the College.

Two-day International Conference on “Equitable Access to Justice: Legal Aid and Empowerment”:
The Legal Aid Centre of the ILS Law College organized two-day International Conference on “Equitable Access to Justice: Legal Aid and Empowerment” on 14-15th March 2015.

Faculty members and others involved in the activities of the Legal Aid Centre:
Advocates – Mr. Ravi Sharma, Mr. Guru, Mr. Devdatt Kamat, Mr. P. Narayan, Sania Hussain, Ms. Medha Bavdekar, Ms. Anagha Joshi, Mr. Nitin Apte, Mr. V.S. Atre, Mr. Rohit Dangare, Mr. Shailendra Kanetkar, Mr. Arpit Ratan, Mr. Ranjeet Singh, Mr. Jayendra Pawar and others.

Faculty Members:
Mr. Santosh Jaybhay, Dr. Deepa Paturkar, Dr. Nitish Nawsgaray, Dr. Sanjay Jain, Mr. D.P. Kendre, Dr. Tejaswini Malegaonkar, Ms. Sonali Jadhav, Ms. Suvarna Nilakh, Ms. Ujjwala Sakhalkar, Mr. K.S. Waghmare, Ms. Priya Sondhi, Ms. Shaila Daware, Ms. Swati Kulkarni, Ms. Kashmira Lonkar, Ms Rajalaxmi Joshi, Ms. Aishwarya Kadam and Dr. Sita Bhatia under the support and guidance of Principal Ms. V.G. Joshi.