Justice S.A. Bobde nominated as NALSA Executive Chairman by President Ram Nath Kovind

Justice S.A. Bobde of the SC has been nominated as Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) effective March 7, 2019, by President Ram Nath Kovind.

The current Executive Chairman of NALSA, Justice A.K. Sikri, retires on March 6, 2019. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi is the Patron in Chief. After Justice Sikri retires, Justice SA Bobde will be the senior most judge of the Supreme Court.

Section 3(2) of the Legal Service Authorities Act mandates that the Chief Justice of India shall be the Patron-in-Chief and a serving or retired Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by the President, in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, shall be the Executive Chairman.

NALSA aims at legally empowering marginalized groups of society through effective legal representation, legal literacy and bridging the gap between legally available benefits and entitled beneficiaries. It also looks at strengthening the Lok Adalat and other Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanisms to provide for informal, quick, inexpensive and effective resolution of disputes and minimize the load of adjudication on an already overburdened judiciary.