Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday disposed of a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking specialised legal aid in forums like the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), the bar and bench portal has reported.
A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne was hearing a petition seeking directions to mention in each show cause notice issued by SEBI and SAT that the recipient can avail legal aid. The petition, Prashant Trivedi, also sought that the bodies maintain a list of lawyers who can offer legal aid.
The Bench noted that Mr Trivedi failed to show non-compliance or failure to provide legal aid to him. The bench said that he didn’t approach the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority (MALSA) and filed the PIL directly. The bench asked him to do so and approach the court only if relief was denied.
The court said that no PIL can be entertained “unless authorities concerned have been denied to entertain the cause of petitioner”. Appearing in person, Mr Trivedi said that as per section 12 of the Maharashtra State Legal Aid Service Authorities (MALSA) Act, legal aid has to be provided without looking at financial status of persons, especially women and children, as per bar and bench report.
He also pointed out that the National Company Law Tribunal deals with commercial cases but still has a legal aid panel. Advocate Anubha Rastogi for SEBI said that as per guidelines issued in 2009, SEBI had set up legal aid meant for those who lose money and who approached it for aid. She said that no one has ever approached it with any application seeking legal aid.
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