Legal Aid, Women's Safety Gain; Court Infrastructure Face Cuts

HYDERABAD: The Union Budget 2026–27 has presented a mixed outlook for India’s justice sector, with enhanced allocations for women’s safety, legal aid and digital integration, but reduced support for forensic infrastructure and judicial facilities.

Under the Nirbhaya Fund, ₹200 crore has been allocated for schemes on women’s safety, matching the previous two years and marking a 33 per cent increase over the revised estimate of ₹150 crore for 2025–26. In addition, ₹91.03 crore has been earmarked for Nirbhaya-funded projects, a sharp rise of over 200 per cent from last year’s revised estimate of ₹29.58 crore. However, no separate provision has been made this year for Cyber crime prevention against women and children or for schemes supporting Women Help Desks and Anti-Human Trafficking.

Legal aid services have received a notable boost, with the National Legal Services Authority (Nalsa) allotted ₹250 crore, the highest since 2018–19. This represents a 25 per cent increase over the 2025–26 budget estimate. Including the Legal Aid Defence Counsel System, the total legal aid budget now stands at ₹550 crore.

Digital justice initiatives have retained strong support. The e-Courts Phase III programme continues with an allocation of ₹1,200 crore, while the Inter Operable Criminal Justice System has seen an 83 per cent increase to ₹550 crore.

In contrast, physical judicial infrastructure has seen cuts. The Centrally sponsored scheme for development of infrastructure facilities for the judiciary has been allotted ₹810 crore, down from ₹998 crore last year, marking the lowest allocation since 2022–23. The revised estimate for 2025–26 stood at ₹798 crore, nearly 20 per cent lower than the budgeted figure.

Funding for the modernisation of state police Forces and the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems has been reduced to ₹450.54 crore from ₹587.97 crore. Forensic capacity shows uneven support: While ₹500 crore has been retained for modernisation, allocations for upgrading Central Forensic Science Laboratories, including the National Forensic Data Centre, have dropped sharply by 82 per cent, from ₹80 crore to ₹14 crore.

Prison reforms remain static, with ₹300 crore allocated for modernisation, unchanged from last year, despite overcrowding concerns. The support to poor prisoners scheme has been cut to ₹2 crore, down from ₹5 crore last year and ₹20 crore in 2024–25.

Experts have expressed concern over reduced support for court infrastructure and forensic facilities, warning that both are vital for timely justice delivery.