LOK ADALAT

Lecture by Dr. Saltanat Sherwani

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. The establishment of Lok Adalats under the Legal
Services Authority Act, 1987 is one of the alternative means of dispute
resolution or redressal. Sections 19, 20, 21 and 22 of the Legal Services
Authorities Act,1987 specifically deal with Lok Adalats. They have been
organised by the State Legal Aid and Advice Boards with the aid of District
Legal Aid and Advice Committees.

It is an informal system of justice dispensation which has largely succeeded

in providing a supplementary forum to litigants for determination and
settlement of disputes. Originating from Gandhian principles by Mahatma
Gandhi, it has become a major helping hand to courts and is prescribed in
Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 as well.

SCOPE
The preamble of the said Act shows that the Lok Adalats are constituted to
provide expeditious, economical and competent legal services to the
weaker sections of the society to perform the constitutional obligations on
behalf of the State. Even the commercial disputes may be adjudicated by
the Lok Adalats.

As the Indian Courts are over-burdened with the backlog of cases and the
regular Courts are to decide the cases involve a lengthy, expensive and
tedious procedure. The Court takes years together to settle even petty
cases. Lok Adalat, therefore, provides alternative resolution or devise for
expeditious and inexpensive justice.

The advent of Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 further gives a statutory
status to these Lok Adalats, promoting the constitutional mandate of Article
39-A of the Constitution of India, which directs the state to organize Lok
Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice
on a basis of equal opportunity. These Lok Adalats provide three-fold
benefits involving speedy resolution of disputes coupled with reduced costs
of litigation and avoiding further appeals, thereby making them the perfect
instrument to resolve the heightened burdened on judiciary for disposing
cases.

Procedure/ Functioning

The basic purpose is settlement, so procedure/method is not formal.

Experiment of ‘Lok Adalat’ as an alternate mode of dispute settlement has
come to be accepted in India, as a viable, economic, efficient and informal
one.

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.

DECISION
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.
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.
FUNCTION

After admission of disputes, the Lok Adalats proceed to hear the case and
dispose of the matter by reaching a settlement or compromise in an
expeditious manner. The manner of resolution in Lok Adalats is more
towards compromise and less towards conclusive determination. In any
case, if the parties are unable to reach a compromise and the Lok Adalat
deems that matter needs more determination, it can refer the matter back
to the courts for adjudication.
Eventually once the court is satisfied, it passes an award with respect to
the dispute is final and binding on the parties. The award is enforceable as
a decree of the civil court and no appeal lies from this award. Therefore,
this provision ensures that the award is conclusive and the matter is put to
rest once and for all.

Award of the Lok Adalat

Section 21 of the Legal Services Authorities Act provides that every award
of the Lok Adalat shall be deemed to be a decree of a civil court or, as the
case may be, an order of any other court and where a compromise or
settlement has been arrived at, by a Lok Adalat in a case referred to it
under sub-section (1) of Section 20, the court-fee paid in such case shall
be refunded in the manner provided under the Court Fees Act, 1870 (7 of
1870).

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.

Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of these Lok Adalats is parallel to the courts organizing

them, therefore it extends to any case or matter which is being heard by
that court under its original jurisdiction. Matters with respect to offences
not compoundable under law are an exception to this jurisdiction. They
cannot be adjudicated in Lok Adalats. These courts may also take
cognizance of cases as per provisions of the Act for disputes agreed by the
parties to be resolved under them or if one of the parties makes an
application to the courts for referring the case to Lok Adalats for settlement
and the court is prima facie satisfied that there are chances of settlement.

Benefits Under Lok Adalat

(1) There is no Court fee and if Court fee is already paid the amount will
be refunded if the dispute is settled at Lok Adalat according to the rules.

(2) The basic features of Lok Adalat are the procedural flexibility and
speedy trial of the disputes. There is no strict application of procedural
laws like Civil Procedure Code and Evidence Act while assessing the claim
by Lok Adalat.

(3) The parties to the dispute can directly interact with the Judge through
their Counsel which is not possible in regular Courts of law.

(4) The award by the Lok Adalat is binding on the parties and it has the
status of a decree of a Civil Court and it is non-appealable which does not
cause the delay in the settlement of disputes finally.
In view of above facilities provided by the ‘Act’ Lok Adalat are boon to the
litigating public they can get their disputes settled fast and free of cost
amicably.

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.