The projection of India as the fastest growing large economy in the world from 2018–21 stands in stark juxtaposition with the fact that it also houses the largest number of the world’s poor. The primary approach being favored by international development organizations as well as the Indian state to address the issue of large-scale poverty in general and legal poverty in particular has been to facilitate legal empowerment of the poor through the promotion of access to justice and rule of law among the underprivileged sections of the population. Following the widespread dissemination of the rights discourse, providing free legal assistance to the poor has emerged as the cornerstone of access-to-justice efforts globally.