In an effort to revive people's faith in the justice system, Subbarao, a lawyer in Telangana is providing free legal service to poor people from marginalised communities.
In the year 1975, his grandfather Dola Muthaiah was killed at a jail in Vemsoor limits of Telangana's Khammam district. The incident reportedly took place months after the 30-year-old man, belonging to Scheduled Caste community was allegedly arrested by police on charges of theft, reported The News Minute.
Speaking to The News Minute about his grandfather's case, Subbarao said that in those times people used to believe that police torture was normal. Moreover, at that time, people from such marginalised communities were not aware of how to fight their legal battles.
This fuelled Subbarao to start a free legal service in the state four years ago, soon after he graduated from Osmania University with a law degree.
How Does the Lawyer Carry Out the Service?
"I did my law degree with the very aim to provide free legal service to people who cannot afford them, and to revive faith in the justice system,” Subbarao said, as per The News Minute.
The 27-year-old now runs the organisation along with two other lawyers Yadeeshwar and Govardhan, who joined him a year ago. They currently provide free legal aid to people from communities including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and OBC, whose earnings are lower than Rs 3 lakh per annum.
Now, Subbarao and his team go to every district of Telangana and hold awareness camps for the people from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities and educate them about the atrocities they could face. The lawyers also brief them on how such cases can be fought in court.
Service Offered Despite Financial Constraints
So far, the team has taken up 150 such cases, of which they have won 30. Subbarao said that their team would get regular alerts about such cases from his university's associations.
Subbarao told the publication that they do not charge any fees from the people for fighting their cases. Those who can afford, he said would sometimes help them with food and travel expenses. He added that they manage to stay afloat with the help of fees they get from other cases.
However, dealing with such cases is not easy for Subbarao and he gets threats from police, opposing parties, lawyers, besides others. In addition, he also has financial constraints.
The News Minute reported that his mother is a daily wage worker and father is physically challenged. He reportedly completed his law degree with the help of donations from some of his professors at Osmania University.
But despite all this, Subbarao continues the service. He said that his father's advice that 'one should always help others' keeps him going.
People requiring their legal support can reach the team at 8499842988.
(With inputs from The News Minute)
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