Overview: LOK ADALATS IN INDIA

Profile of the author: Garv Singh is a 3rd year law student at Amity Law School, Delhi

INTRODUCTION:

Lok Adalat (People's Court) is one of the Alternative dispute resolution mechanism in India. The concept of Lok Adalat is an innovative Indian contribution to the global legal jurisprudence. ‘Lok’ stands for people and the term ‘Adalat’ stands for court.

In the ancient times, the dispute resolution bodies were referred to as “panchayats” which used to be established at village levels. Panchayats used to resolve the disputes through arbitration. It has proved to be a highly effective alternative to litigation. This very concept of settlement of dispute through mediation, negotiation or through arbitral process known as decision of “Nyaya – panchayat” is conceptualised and established in the very philosophy of Lok Adalat.

Purpose of establishment of Lok Adalats in India

It simply covers people who are directly or indirectly affected by dispute resolution. The development of movement called Lok Adalat was a part of the approach to relieve heavy burden on the courts with pending cases and to give relief to the litigants who were in queue to get justice.

The current institution of Lok Adalat is chaired over by a sitting or a retired judicial officer such as the chairman, with usually two other members- a lawyer and a social worker.

A Lok Adalat has jurisdiction to settle any matter pending before any court as well as matters at pre litigating stage, that is, disputes which have not yet been formally instituted in any court of law. Such matters may be civil or non-compoundable criminal disputes.

Salient features of Lok Adalat which make it a more trusted dispute resolution mechanism are :-

1. Participation of the litigants.
2. Accommodation of views from both parties.
3. Fairness in the trial.
4. Voluntariness in arguments.
5. Neighbourliness between the judges and the participants.
6. Transparency between judges and the parties.
7. Efficiency in judgements.
8. Lack of animosity amongst all.

Benefits of the Lok Adalat

• There is a zero court fees and even if the case is already being filed in the regular court, the fee paid will be refunded if the dispute settles in the Lok Adalat.
• There is no strict application of procedural laws and the disputing parties can directly interact with the judges.
• The disputes can be brought before the Lok Adalat directly instead of going to a regular court first and then to the Lok Adalat
• The ruling of Lok Adalat is binding on the parties and its order is capable of execution through legal process.
• The most important of them being that it is faster and a cheaper mode of dispute redressal process with a legal standing as compared to the other dispute mechanisms.

An overview of laws on Lok Adalat in India

Pursuant of Article 39A of the Constitution of India, the Parliament has enacted ‘The Legal Service Authorities Act, 1987. The Act provides for various provisions of the dispute settlement through Lok Adalats. The Act constitutes legal services authorities to provide free and competent legal aid services to the weaker sections of the society. In 2002, the Act was amended to establish permanent Lok Adalats for Public Utility Services.

Furthermore, the National Legal Service Authority(NALSA), a statutory body constituted under the National Legal Service Authority Act, 1987 is responsible for laying down policies and principles for making legal services under the Act and frame the most effective and economical schemes for legal services. NALSA is engaged in providing legal services, legal aid and speedy justice through Lok Adalats.

PERMANENT LOK ADALATS[1]

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, post, telegraph etc. Here, even if the parties fail to reach 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.

Final award rendered by Lok Adalats

One issue which raises its head often is the inevitability of the award of the Lok Adalat. During the Lok Adalat, the parties agree to abide by the decision of the judge at the Lok Adalat. However, it is often seen that over the course of time, the same order is challenged on many grounds.

In one of the recent decisions, the Supreme Court of India has once again put all such doubts to rest. In clear terms, the Court has held that award of the Lok Adalat is as good as the decree of a Court. The award passed by the Lok Adalat is the decision of the court itself though arrived at by the easier method of conciliation and mediation instead of the process of litigation in the courts.

Also, in several instances, the Supreme Court has held that if there was no consent between the parties, then the award of the Lok Adalat is not executable and also if the parties fail to agree to get the dispute resolved through Lok Adalat, the regular litigation process remains open for the contesting parties.

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FAQ’s:

Q1. When and where was the first lok Adalat held in India?

ANS. The first Lok Adalat was held on March 14th ,1982 at Junagarh in Gujarat.

Q2. How many Lok Adalats are currently organised in India?

ANS. As on 30th September 2015 report, more than 15 lakhs Lok Adalats have been organised in the country since its inception.

[1] https://nalsa.gov.in