S.S.

JAIN SUBODH LAW COLLEGE

2020-2021
SUBJECT-“Alternative Dispute Resolution ”

PROJECT ON

“Lok Adalats and Access to Justice”

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

MS. LOVELY JAIN KALPANA CHOUDHARY

(ASSISTANT PROFESSOR) SEMESTER- VIII (A)

 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that KALPANA CHOUDARY student of S.S.JAIN SUBODH LAW

COLLEGE has completed her project on the topic “Lok Adalats and Access to Justice”
under the supervision and guidance of supervisor Ms. LOVELY JAIN.

To best of my knowledge the report is original and not been copied or submitted anywhere
else. It is an independent work done by her.

Ms. Lovely Jain

Assistant Professor
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project entitled “Lok Adalats and Access to Justice” is submitted
by me in partial fulfilment of the requirements for award of the degree of B.A. LL.B from
S.S. Jain Subodh Law College, Mansarovar, Jaipur. It is a result of my own work and efforts.
Any material used or scripted herein by any other author/researcher/commentator and used
hereinafter has been thoroughly acknowledged. The present work has not been accepted for
any degree, and is also not being currently submitted for any other degree.

KALPANA CHOUDARY

B.A.LLB Sem-VIII (A)

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A research work of such great scope and precision could never have been possible without
great co-operation from all sides. Contributions of various people have resulted in this effort.
Firstly, I would like to thank God for the knowledge he has bestowed upon me.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Lovely Jain whose valuable support
and guidance, this project would have been impossible. I would like to thank the library staff
for having put up with my persistent queries and having helped me out with the voluminous
materials needed for this work. I would also like to thank my seniors for having guided me
and culminate this acknowledgement by thanking my friends for having kept the flame of
competition burning, which spurred me on through these days.
And finally my parents, who have been a support to me throughout my life and has helped
me, guided me to perform my best in all interests of my life, and all my elders who have
always inculcated the best of their qualities in me.

KALPANA CHOUDHARY

Student Signature
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.no TOPIC PAGE No.

6
1 Introduction
2 Origin of Lok Adalat 10
3 Procedure At Lok Adalat 12
4 Conclusion 17
5 Bibliography 18

CHAPTER I - INDTRODUCTION
Lok Adalats

NALSA (National Legal Services Authority) along with other Legal Services Institutions
conducts Lok Adalats. Lok Adalat is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms, it is
a forum where disputes/cases pending in the court of law or at pre-litigation stage are settled/
compromised amicably. Lok Adalats have been given statutory status under the Legal
Services Authorities Act, 1987. Under the said Act, the award (decision) made by the Lok
Adalats is deemed to be a decree of a civil court and is final and binding on all parties and no
appeal against such an award lies before any court of law. If the parties are not satisfied with
the award of the Lok Adalat though there is no provision for an appeal against such an award,
but they are free to initiate litigation by approaching the court of appropriate jurisdiction by
filing a case by following the required procedure, in exercise of their right to litigate.

There is no court fee payable when a matter is filed in a Lok Adalat. If a matter pending in
the court of law is referred to the Lok Adalat and is settled subsequently, the court fee
originally paid in the court on the complaints/petition is also refunded back to the parties. The
persons deciding the cases in the Lok Adalats are called the Members of the Lok Adalats,
they have the role of statutory conciliators only and do not have any judicial role; therefore
they can only persuade the parties to come to a conclusion for settling the dispute outside the
court in the Lok Adalat and shall not pressurize or coerce any of the parties to compromise or
settle cases or matters either directly or indirectly. The Lok Adalat shall not decide the matter
so referred at its own instance, instead the same would be decided on the basis of the
compromise or settlement between the parties. The members shall assist the parties in an
independent and impartial manner in their attempt to reach amicable settlement of their
dispute.

Nature of Cases to be Referred to Lok Adalat

1. Any case pending before any court.

2. Any dispute which has not been brought before any court and is likely to be filed before
the court.

Provided that any matter relating to an offence not compoundable under the law shall not be
settled in Lok Adalat.
Which Lok Adalat to be Approached

As per section 18(1) of the Act, a Lok Adalat shall have jurisdiction to determine and to
arrive at a compromise or settlement between the parties to a dispute in respect of -

(1) Any case pending before; or

(2) Any matter which is falling within the jurisdiction of, and is not brought before, any court
for which the Lok Adalat is organised.

Provided that the Lok Adalat shall have no jurisdiction in respect of matters relating to
divorce or matters relating to an offence not compoundable under any law.

How to Get the Case Referred to the Lok Adalat for Settlement

(A) Case pending before the court.

(B) Any dispute at pre-litigative stage.

The State Legal Services Authority or District Legal Services Authority as the case may be
on receipt of an application from any one of the parties at a pre-litigation stage may refer
such matter to the Lok Adalat for amicable settlement of the dispute for which notice would
then be issued to the other party.

Levels and Composition of Lok Adalats:

At the State Authority Level -

The Member Secretary of the State Legal Services Authority organizing the Lok Adalat
would constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired
judge of the High Court or a sitting or retired judicial officer and any one or both of- a
member from the legal profession; a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker
sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes.

At High Court Level -

The Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee would constitute benches of the
Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judge of the High Court and any one
or both of- a member from the legal profession; a social worker engaged in the upliftment of
the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or
programmes.

At District Level -

The Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority organizing the Lok Adalat would
constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judicial
officer and any one or both of either a member from the legal profession; and/or a social
worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation
of legal services schemes or programmes or a person engaged in para-legal activities of the
area, preferably a woman.

At Taluk Level -

The Secretary of the Taluk Legal Services Committee organizing the Lok Adalat would
constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judicial
officer and any one or both of either a member from the legal profession; and/or a social
worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation
of legal services schemes or programmes or a person engaged in para-legal activities of the
area, preferably a woman.

National Lok Adalat

National Level Lok Adalats are held for at regular intervals where on a single day Lok
Adalats are held throughout the country, in all the courts right from the Supreme Court till the
Taluk Levels wherein cases are disposed off in huge numbers. From February 2015, National
Lok Adalats are being held on a specific subject matter every month.

Permanent Lok Adalat

The other type of Lok Adalat is the Permanent Lok Adalat, organized under Section 22-B of
The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Permanent Lok Adalats have been set up as
permanent bodies with a Chairman and two members for providing compulsory pre-litigative
mechanism for conciliation and settlement of cases relating to Public Utility Services like
transport, postal, telegraph etc. Here, even if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the
Permanent Lok Adalat gets jurisdiction to decide the dispute, provided, the dispute does not
relate to any offence. Further, the Award of the Permanent Lok Adalat is final and binding on
all the parties. The jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalats is upto Rs. Ten Lakhs. Here if
the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat has the jurisdiction to
decide the case. The award of the Permanent Lok Adalat is final and binding upon the parties.
The Lok Adalat may conduct the proceedings in such a manner as it considers appropriate,
taking into account the circumstances of the case, wishes of the parties like requests to hear
oral statements, speedy settlement of dispute etc.

Mobile Lok Adalats are also organized in various parts of the country which travel from one
location to another to resolve disputes in order to facilitate the resolution of disputes through
this mechanism.1

1
https://nalsa.gov.in/lok-adalat
 CHAPTER II- ORIGIN OF LOK ADALATS

The concept of Lok Adalats was pushed back into oblivion in last few centuries before
independence and particularly during the British regime. Now, this concept has, once again,
been rejuvenated. It has become very popular and familiar amongst litigants.

This is the system, which has deep roots in Indian legal history and its close allegiance to the
culture and perception of justice in Indian ethos. Experience has shown that it is one of the
very efficient and important ADR mechanisms and most suited to the Indian environment,
culture and societal interests.

Camps of Lok Adalats were started initially in Gujarat in March 1982 and now it has been
extended throughout the Country.

The evolution of this movement was a part of the strategy to relieve heavy burden on the
Courts with pending cases and to give relief to the litigants. The first Lok Adalat was held on
March 14, 1982 at Junagarh in Gujarat. Maharashtra commenced the Lok Nyayalaya in 1984.

The advent of Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 gave a statutory status to Lok Adalats,
pursuant to the constitutional mandate in Article 39-A of the Constitution of India. It contains
various provisions for settlement of disputes through Lok Adalat.

This Act mandates constitution of legal services authorities to provide free and competent
legal services to the weaker sections of the society and to ensure that opportunities for
securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.

It also mandates organization of Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system
promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity. When statutory recognition had been
given to Lok Adalat, it was specifically provided that the award passed by the Lok Adalat
formulating the terms of compromise will have the force of decree of a court, which can be
executed as a civil court decree.

The evolution of movement called Lok Adalat was a part of the strategy to relieve heavy
burden on the Courts with pending cases and to give relief to the litigants who were in a
queue to get justice. It contains various provisions for settlement of disputes through Lok
Adalat.
The parties are not allowed to be represented by the lawyers and encouraged to interact with
judge who helps in arriving at amicable settlement. No fee is paid by the parties. Strict rule of
Civil Procedural Court and evidence is not applied. Decision is by informal sitting and
binding on the parties and no appeal lies against the order of the Lok Adalat.

Permanent Lok Adalats

In 2002, the Parliament brought about certain amendments to the Legal Services Authorities
Act, 1987 to institutionalize the Lok Adalats by making them a permanent body to settle the
disputes related to public utility services. The Central or State Authorities may, by
notification, establish Permanent Lok Adalats at any Permanent Lok Adalats, for determining
issues in connection to Public Utility Services.

Public Services include:

1. Transport service

2. Postal, telegraph or telephone services

3. Supply of power, light and water to public

4. System of public conservancy or sanitation

5. Insurance services and such other services as notified by the Central or State
Governments

Permanent Lok Adalats have the same powers that are vested in the Lok Adalats.2

2
https://www.civilsdaily.com/lok-adalats-origin-evolution-jurisdiction-powers/
 CHAPTER III- PROCEDURE AT LOK ADALAT

The procedure followed at a Lok Adalat is very simple and shorn of almost all legal
formalism and rituals. The Lok Adalat is presided over by a sitting or retired judicial officer
as the chairman, with two other members, usually a lawyer and a social worker. It is revealed
by experience that in Lok Adalats it is easier to settle money claims since in most such cases
the quantum alone may be in dispute. Thus the motor accident compensation claim cases are
brought before the Lok Adalat and a number of cases were disposed of in each Lok Adalat.
One important condition is that both parties in dispute should agree for settlement through
Lok Adalat and abide by its decision. A Lok Adalat has the jurisdiction to settle, by way of
effecting compromise between the parties, any matter which may be pending before any
court, as well as matters at pre-litigative stage i.e. disputes which have not yet been formally
instituted in any Court of Law. Such matters may be civil or criminal in nature, but any
matter relating to an offence not compoundable under any law cannot be decided by the Lok
Adalat even if the parties involved therein agree to settle the same. Lok Adalats can take
cognizance of matters involving not only those persons who are entitled to avail free legal
services but of all other persons also, be they women, men, or children and even institutions.
Anyone, or more of the parties to a dispute can move an application to the court where their
matter may be pending, or even at pre-litigative stage, for such matter being taken up in the
Lok Adalat whereupon the Lok Adalat Bench constituted for the purpose shall attempt to
resolve the dispute by helping the parties to arrive at an amicable solution and once it is
successful in doing so, the award passed by it shall be final which has as much force as a
decree of a Civil Court obtained after due contest.3

3
http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/lok_a.htm
 CHAPTER IV- LOK ADALATS AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE

The benefits that litigants derive through the Lok Adalats are many.

 Speedy Justice and Saving From the Lengthy Court Procedures

Lok adalats ensure speedier justice because it can be conducted at suitable places, arranged
very fast, in local languages too, even for the illiterates. The procedural laws and the
Evidence Act are not strictly followed while assessing the merits of the claim by the Lok
Adalat. Hence, Lok Adalats are also known as “People’s Festivals of Justice”. The victims
and the offender may be represented by their advocate or they can interact with the Lok
Adalat judge directly and explain their stand in the dispute and the reasons thereof, which is
not possible in a regular court of law.

Justice at No Cost

Abraham Lincoln has observed: "Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbours to

compromise wherever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser
- in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker, the lawyer has a superior
opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough."

Lok Adalat is the only institutionalized mechanism of dispute resolution in which the parties
do not have to bear any expenses. There is no court fee in Lok Adalat. If the case is already
filed in the regular court, the fee paid is refunded in the manner provided under the Court
Fees Act if the dispute is settled at the Lok Adalat. This kind of refund is an incentive given
to parties to negotiate for settlement. Lok Adalat is a boon to the litigant public, where they
can get their disputes settled fast and free of cost. Denial of free legal services to the poor
accused persons or under trial prisoners would vitiate the principle of “reasonable, just and
fair” procedure which is implied in the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of
the Constitution.

In Suk Das v. Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh, the Apex Court held that failure to
provide free legal aid to an accused at the State’s cost would vitiate the trial. The Court has
set aside the conviction of an accused on the ground that he was not provided with legal aid at
the time of his trial and thus there was violation of Article 21 of the Constitution.

Solving Problems of Backlog Cases

Delivering the inaugural address at a seminar on judicial reforms, the President said: “Delays
render the common man’s knock on the temple of justice a frustrating experience. Litigants
are not able to lead normal lives being unsure of the verdict in their case.’’ Terming the
pending cases as an “explosion of litigation,” she said the current figures reveal that the
arrears in HCs exceeded 40 lakh cases and in subordinate courts 270 lakh.

The curse of backlogs in India is well known and Andhra Pradesh High Court judge Justice V
V Rao has gone on to say that it will take 320 years for the Indian Judiciary to clear its
backlog.

In a Lok Adalat, if a compromise is reached, an award is made and is binding on the parties.
It is enforced as a decree of a civil court. An important aspect is that the award is final and
cannot be appealed, not even under Article 226 because it is a judgment by consent. All
proceedings of a Lok Adalat are deemed to be judicial proceedings and every Lok Adalat is
deemed to be a Civil Court. Section 25 of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 provides
that the provisions of the act have an overriding effect notwithstanding anything which is
inconsistent with any other law.

In Punjab National Bank v. Lakshmichand Rai, an appeal was filed under S. 96 of the Code
of Civil Procedure against the award made by a Lok Adalat. The question before the court
was whether such can appeal is maintainable. So in this case it was iterated that “an appeal
would not lie under the provisions of Section 96 C.P.C. Lok Adalat is conducted under an
independent enactment and once the award is made by Lok Adalat the right of appeal shall be
governed by the Legal Services Authority Act.” It has been specifically mentioned in S. 21(2)
that no appeal shall die against an order of a Lok Adalat.

Further, in Board of Trustees of the Port of Visakhapatnam v. Presiding Officer, Permanent,

Lok Adalat-cum-Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Visakhapatnam and Anr., , it
was observed that the award is enforceable as a decree and it is final. The endeavor is only to
see that the disputes are narrowed down and make the final settlement so that the parties are
not again driven to further litigation or any dispute.
The scheme also helps the overburdened Courts to alleviate the burden of arrears of cases and
as the award becomes final and binding on both the parties, no appeal is filed in the Appellate
Court and, as such, the burden of the Appellate Court in hierarchy is also reduced. Hence, to
alleviate the accumulation of cases, the Lok Adalat is the need of the day.

Maintenance of Cordial Relations

The main thrust of Lok Adalats is on compromise. When no compromise is reached, the
matter goes back to the court. While conducting the proceedings, a Lok Adalat acts as a
conciliator and not as an arbitrator. Its role is to persuade the parties to hit upon a solution
and help in reconciling the contesting differences. Lok Adalat cannot decide the issues nor
can it influence or force the parties to decide in a particular way. It encourages consensual
arrangements. It is not possible for lok adalat to decide upon any issue not acceptable to any
of the parties.

Lok Adalats are also required to follow the principles of natural justice and other legal
principles. In Kishan Rao v. Bidar District Legal Services Authority, the question raised was
whether the Lok Adalat could pass a decree when all the parties had not appeared before the
Lok Adalat nor had notice been issued to them. The Karnataka High Court interpreted
Section 20(3) of the Legal Services Authorities Act to hold that all the parties to the suit must
be present if the compromise was to be a valid one. Thus the impugned decree was struck
down as being a nullity by reason of violation of natural justice.

In Lok Adalats, disputes are not only settled but also the cordial relations between the parties
are retained as disputes are resolved amicably. Hence, it is a very healthy way of dispute
resolution.4

Further benefits are:

 There is no strict application of the procedural laws and the Evidence Act while
assessing the merits of the claim by the Lok Adalat. The parties to the disputes though
represented by their advocate can interact with the Lok Adalat judge directly and
explain their stand in the dispute and the reasons therefore, which is not possible in a
regular court of law.

4
legalservicesindia.com/article/583/Significance-of-Lok-Adalats-in-present-scenario..html
  Thirdly, disputes can be brought before the Lok Adalat directly instead of going to a
regular court first and then to the Lok Adalat.
 Fourthly, the decision of the Lok Adalat is binding on the parties to the dispute and its
order is capable of execution through legal process. No appeal lies against the order of
the Lok Adalat whereas in the regular law courts there is always a scope to appeal to
the higher forum on the decision of the trial court, which causes delay in the
settlement of the dispute finally. The reason being that in a regular court, decision is
that of the court but in Lok Adalat it is mutual settlement and hence no case for appeal
will arise. In every respect the scheme of Lok Adalat is a boon to the litigant public,
where they can get their disputes settled fast and free of cost.
 Last but not the least, faster and inexpensive remedy with legal status.

The system has received laurels from the parties involved in particular and the public and the
legal functionaries, in general. It also helps in emergence of jurisprudence of peace in the
larger interest of justice and wider sections of society. Its process is voluntary and works on
the principle that both parties to the disputes are willing to sort out their disputes by amicable
solutions. Through this mechanism, disputes can be settled in a simpler, quicker and cost-
effective way at all the three stages i.e. pre-litigation, pending-litigation and post-litigation.

Overall effect of the scheme of the Lok Adalat is that the parties to the disputes sit across the
table and sort out their disputes by way of conciliation in presence of the Lok Adalat Judges,
who would be guiding them on technical legal aspects of the controversies.

The scheme also helps the overburdened Court to alleviate the burden of arrears of cases and
as the award becomes final and binding on both the parties, no appeal is filed in the Appellate
Court and, as such, the burden of the Appellate Court in hierarchy is also reduced. The
scheme is not only helpful to the parties, but also to the overburdened Courts to achieve the
constitutional goal of speedy disposal of the cases. About 90% of the cases filed in the
developed countries are settled mutually by conciliation, mediation etc. and, as such, only
10% of the cases are decided by the Courts there. In our country, which is developing, has
unlike the developed countries, number of Judges disproportionate to the cases filed and,
hence, to alleviate the accumulation of cases, the Lok Adalat is the need of the day.5

5
http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/lok_a.htm
 CHAPTER V- CONCLUSION

Lok Adalats, as it has been again and again iterated throughout the paper, serve very crucial
functions in a country due to many factors like pending cases, illiteracy etc. The Lok Adalat
was a historic necessity in a country like India where illiteracy dominated about all aspects of
governance. The most desired function of lok adalats may seem to be clearing the backlog,
with the latest report showing 3 crore pending cases in Indian courts but the other functions
cannot be ignored. The concept of Lok Adalat has been a success in practice.

Lok Adalats play a very important role to advance and strengthen “equal access to justice”,
the heart of the Constitution of India, a reality. This Indian contribution to world ADR
jurisprudence needs to be taken full advantage of. Maximum number of Lok Adalats need to
be organized to achieve the Gandhian Principle of Gram Swaraj and “access to justice for
all”.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

1.  The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987

2. Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008

3. Jitendra N. Bhatt,ROUND TABLE JUSTICE THROUGH LOK ADALAT (PEOPLES’ COURT)-
A VIBRANT ADR IN INDIA, (2002) 1 SCC (Jour) 11.

4. R.Madhava Menon,Lok Adalat: People Program for Speedy Justice,Indian Bar

Review, Vol 132 (2),1996

5. A.Khan,Lok Adalat, 1st Edition (2006)