Lok Adalat, a forum where the disputes or cases pending or at pre-litigation stage are settled amiably, has been granted statutory status under the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987. According to the Act, the order or award pronounced by the Lok Adalats is deemed to be the decrease of a civil court and appeal can be made against its order in any court as its order is final and binding to all parties.
The Type of cases a Lok Adalat takes up
The cases or disputes that can be referred to a Lok Adalat includes any case pending before any court; and any dispute that has not been put before any court and is likely to be brought before the court. Provided that any matter relating to an offence not compoundable under the law shall not be settled in the Lok Adalat.
Process of Getting the case referred to the Adalat
There are two ways of bringing the case before the Lok Adalat: first, if the case is pending in the court and if parties entangled in the dispute agree to settle it in Lok Adalat or one of the party files an application to the court or the court is satisfied that the matter is an appropriate one for settlement in Lok Adalat; and second, in the case of dispute being at pre-litigation stage, it can be referred to the LokAdalat.
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History of Lok Adalats in India
The concept of Adalat, as it has been widely accepted, is a novel Indian contribution the world jurisprudence. Lok Adalat, as the name is in Hindi, can be translate in English as “People’s Court”. “People” stands for “Lok” and “Court” stands “Adalat”. India has got a long history of having suck systems at the grass roots level known as Pachayats. Panchayats, legally arbitration, are widely used in India for resolution both commercial and non- commercial disputes.
Behind the concept and establishment of Lok Adalat is the ancient concept of settlement of disputes through mediation, negotiation or through arbitral process popularly known as decision of “Naya-Pancha” or “People’s Court verdict”.
During the British regime the concept of Lok Adalat was pushed back into oblivion. However, it has been rejuvenated once again. This system is very popular among litigants because of its deep roots in India legal history and its close allegiance to the culture and perception of justice in India.
Lok Adalat, as a movement, were established with a strategy to abate heavy burden on the courts with pending cases and to provide relief to the litigants who were in queue to obtain justice. It is so the primary intention of setting up Lok Adalats is to dispense justice summarily, of course with the consent of the parties involved, without giving too much emphasis on legal technicalities.
The camps of Adalats initially started in Gujarat, the land of Mahatma Gandhi, where on March 14, 1982, at Junagarh, the First LokAdalat was held. Lok Adalat has been very successful in settlement of matrimonial/family disputes; labour disputes; disputes related to public services like electricity, bank recovery cases, telephone; motor accident claim cases and so on.
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Procedure and composition
A Lok Adalat has very simple procedure that is shorn of almost all legal formalities and rituals. The Adalat has only three members who preside over it, of these their members one is a sitting or retired judicial officer; the other two include usually a lawyer and a social worker. It has been experienced that it is easier to settle money claims in Lok Adalats because in most such cases the quantum (of Money) alone may be in dispute. Thus, most of the motor accident claims cases are brought before the Lok Adalats.
Consent of Parties in Lok Adalat
The most important condition in the process of dispensation of justice in a Lok Adalat is that both parties in the dispute must agree for the settlement through it and abide by its decision.
The decision cannot be forced on any Party. However, once the parties agree that Adalat can decide the matter, then no party can walk away from the decision of Lok Adalat. In several cases, the Supreme Court of India has made it very clear that if there is no consent, the award of the Lok Adalat is not executable, and the Court has also said that if the parties fail to agree to settle dispute through Lok Adalat, the regular litigation process remains open for the contesting parties.
Benefits of Lok Adalat
There are many benefits of Lok Adalats. First, there is no court fee and even if the case is already in a regular court the fee deposited in the regular Court is refunded if the dispute settled in the Lok Adalat.
Secondly, as there is no strict legal procedures such as Evidence Act, it saves the time of the litigants.
Thirdly, application for settlement of dispute can be filed directly in the Adalat instead of approaching a regular court first then to Lok Adalat.
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