Archive · 7 Jan 2026
Chhattisgarh High Court Orders Legal Aid for Poor Litigants
The Chhattisgarh High Court in India has told family courts to have a list of lawyers ready to help poor people who can't afford legal aid.
This is because a woman was granted a divorce without any legal help, which the high court said was unfair.
The court said family courts should make sure everyone gets a fair chance to be heard, especially those who can't afford a lawyer.
The high court also said the family court made a mistake by not providing free legal aid to the woman when she asked for it.
The case will now be heard again, and the woman will get a lawyer to represent her.
The Chhattisgarh High Court directed family courts to maintain dedicated panels of legal experts for poor litigants to ensure meaningful access to justice.
The court set aside a divorce decree where a family court had ignored a woman's oral request for free legal aid.
The family court had granted an ex-parte divorce decree against the woman in January 2024 after she failed to appear and present her counsel.
The high court observed that the family court had legally erred in not providing free legal aid to the woman as per the National Legal Services Authority Regulations, 2010.
The court directed the family court to take up the case from the stage of proceedings in November 2023 and the DLSA to provide free legal aid to the wife.
- Who
- Chhattisgarh High Court, family courts, poor litigants, a woman and her estranged husband
- What
- The Chhattisgarh High Court directed family courts to maintain dedicated panels of legal experts for poor litigants and set aside a divorce decree that ignored a woman's request for free legal aid.
- When
- The divorce petition was filed in 2022, and the divorce decree was granted in January 2024. The high court's decision was made in 2024.
- Where
- Chhattisgarh, India
- Why
- To ensure meaningful access to justice for poor litigants, particularly women and children, in keeping with constitutional principles of fairness and equal justice.
- Court
- Chhattisgarh High Court
- Bench
- Justices Sanjay K Agrawal and Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal
- Act
- Family Courts Act, 1984
- Rules
- Chhattisgarh Family Courts Rules, 2007
- Regulations
- National Legal Services Authority (Free and Competent Legal Services) Regulations, 2010
- Year of Divorce Petition
- 2022
- Year of Divorce Decree
- 2024