Patron-in-Chief, Executive Chairman and a Member-Secretary: the legal services authority behind Kerala's victim compensation

Background

The Kerala High Court has taken on record a status report from the Member Secretary of the Kerala State Legal Services Authority on the Victim Compensation Scheme, and has told the State to release ₹9,73,85,000 held up in 225 cases. The Authority that files those reports is set up by statute. Section 6 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 requires every State Government to constitute a Legal Services Authority for the State. Its Patron-in-Chief is the Chief Justice of the High Court. Its Executive Chairman is a sitting or retired Judge of the High Court, named by the Governor after consulting the Chief Justice, and the other members are nominated by the State Government in the same consultation. The Member-Secretary is drawn from the State Higher Judicial Service and cannot rank below a District Judge. Running costs, including the salaries and pensions of its staff, come out of the Consolidated Fund of the State, and no act of the Authority is void merely because a seat is vacant or its constitution is defective.