Constitutional text

The State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

History and context

Inserted by the 42nd Amendment during the Emergency in 1976, Article 39A became the constitutional basis for the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987, which created State Legal Services Authorities and the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). Before this amendment, the right to a fair trial for poor citizens was aspirational at best. The article reflects the recognition that access to justice was deeply unequal in India, where the cost and complexity of litigation effectively denied the courts to the poor. The 42nd Amendment bundled many progressive provisions with authoritarian ones, but Article 39A has been widely regarded as among the genuinely beneficial changes of that period.

Amendments

  • 42nd Amendment (1976) — Inserted Article 39A directing the state to provide free legal aid and ensure equal access to justice.

Key Supreme Court cases

Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar (1979)

Supreme Court held that the right to speedy trial and free legal aid for undertrial prisoners is part of Article 21, drawing support from Article 39A.

Suk Das v. Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh (1986)

Held that failure to provide free legal aid to an accused who cannot afford counsel vitiates the trial and conviction.

Related articles

Last reviewed: 3 July 2026