Font size:
Print
Lok Adalat
Context:
In the 75th year of its establishment, the Supreme Court of India is organising a Special Lok Adalat from 29th July 2024 to 3rd August 2024 to facilitate amicable settlements of suitable pending cases.
Lok Adalat:
- Lok Adalat means “People’s Court” and is based on Gandhian principles.
- It is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms.
- Lok adalats have statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.
- It is a forum where disputes/cases pending in the court of law or at pre-litigation stage civil and criminal are settled/ compromised amicably.
- Awards (decisions) by Lok Adalats are deemed as decrees of a civil court; they are final and binding on all parties.
- No appeal against such an award lies before any court of law.
- There is no court fee payable when a matter is filed in a Lok Adalat.
- Lok Adalats can be held at district, state, and national levels.
- State Legal Services Authorities and High Court Legal Services Committees exist in every state and high court.
- District and Taluk Legal Services Committees provide free legal services and conduct Lok Adalats.
- The Supreme Court Legal Services Committee oversees legal services related to the Supreme Court of India.
- The persons deciding the cases in the Lok Adalats are called the Members of the Lok Adalats.
- Lok Adalat doesn’t make its own decisions on cases; instead, it resolves them based on the compromise or settlement agreed upon by the parties.
- Every Lok Adalat shall consist of such number of serving or retired judicial officers and other persons of area as may be specified by agency organising.
- Generally, Lok Adalat comprises a judicial officer as the chairman, along with a lawyer and a social worker as members.
Types of Lok Adalats:
- National Lok Adalats:
- They are held at regular intervals where on a single day lok adalats are held throughout the country, in all the courts.
- From 2015, they are held on specific subject matter every month.
- State Lok Adalats:
-
- They are also known as regular lok adalats.
- They can be further classified into:
- Continuous Lok Adalat, Daily Lok Adalat, Mobile Lok Adalat and Mega Lok Adalat.
- Permanent Lok Adalats:
-
- The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 was amended in 2002 to provide for Permanent Lok Adalats.
- They deal with cases related to public utility services (transport services of passengers or goods by air, road and water; postal, telegraph or telephone service, etc.
DO YOU KNOW?
- The first Lok Adalat camp was organised in Gujarat in 1982 as a voluntary and conciliatory agency without any statutory backing for its decisions.
- It promotes the constitutional mandate of Article 39-A of the India Constitution.
- Articles 14 and 22(1) of the Constitution also make it obligatory for the State to ensure equality before law and a legal system which promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity to all.
