Lok Adalat System in India

7/27/2019 Lok Adalat System in India

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PROJECT ON

LOK ADALAT SYSTEM IN INDIA

Name:Abhishek chatterjee Submitted To : Dr VikasGandhi

Reg No:11A006

Batch :2011-16



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INDEX

INTRODUCTION

SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES

ORGANIZATION OF LOK ADALATS

POWERS OF LOK ADALATS

PERMANENT LOK ADALAT

ADVANTAGES OF LOK ADALAT

DRAWBACKS OF LOK ADALATS

CHALLENGES FACING LOK ADALATS

CONCLUSION



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SCOPE AND OBJECT The advent of Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 gave a statutory status to Lok Adalats and ispursuance with the constitutional mandate in Article 39-A of the Constitution of India, whichcontains various provisions for settlement of disputes through Lok Adalat.

It is an Act to constitute legal services authorities to provide free and competent legal services tothe weaker sections of the society to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not deniedto any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities, and to organize Lok Adalats to securethat the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity.

Even before the enforcement of the Act, the concept of Lok Adalat has been getting wideacceptance as People's Courts as the very name signifies. Settlement of disputes at the hands of Panchayat Heads or tribal heads was in vogue since ancient times. When statutory recognitionhad 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 canbe executed as a civil court decree.

The evolution of movement called Lok Adalat was a part of the strategy to relieve heavy burdenon the Courts with pending cases and to give relief to the litigants who were in a queue to getjustice. It contains various provisions for settlement of disputes through Lok Adalat.

It is an Act to constitute legal services authorities to provide free and competent legal services tothe weaker sections of the society to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not deniedto any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities, and to organize Lok Adalats to securethat the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity.

Lok Adalats are competent to deal with a number of cases like:·

Civil,revenue and criminal cases Motor accident compesenation and claim cases Partions claims Damages cases Family disputes Land acquisition disputes Family court cases Cases which are non sub-judice

NEED FOR LOK ADALATS Justice Ramaswamy said:“Resolving disputes through Lok Adalat not only minimizes litigation expenditure, it saves

valuable time of the parties and their witnesses and also facilitates inexpensive and promptremedy appropriately to the satisfaction of both the parties” Law Courts in India face mainly four problems:

The number of courts and judges in all grades are alarmingly inadequate.

Increase in flow of cases in recent years due to multifarious Acts enacted by theCentraland State Governments.



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The high cost involved in prosecuting or defending a case in a court of law, dueto heavy court fee, lawyer's fee and incidental charges.

Delay in disposal of cases resulting in huge pendency in all the courts

A Lok Adalat shall have jurisdiction to determine and to arrive at a compromise or settlementbetween the parties to a dispute in respect of:(i) any case pending before; or(ii) any matter whichis falling within the jurisdiction of, and is not brought before, any court for which the Lok Adalatis organised. The Lok Adalat can compromise and settle even criminal cases, which arecompoundable under the relevant laws.

ORGANISATION OF LOK ADALAT:

The State Authority and District Authority, Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, HighCourt Legal Services Committee and Taluk Legal Services Committee (mentioned in Section 19of the Act) can organize Lok Adalats at such intervals and Permanent Lok Adalats as may bedeemed fit. Every Lok Adalat so organized shall consist of:(a) Serving or retired judicialofficers,(b) Other persons, as may be specified.

The experience and qualification of “other persons” in a Lok Adalat conducted by Supreme Court Legal Services Committee shall be prescribed by the CentralGovernment in

consultation with the Chief Justice of India. At present, Rule 13 of the National Legal Services Authorities Rules, 1995 prescribes such experience and qualifications as:

1. A member of the legal profession; or

2. A person of repute who is specially interested in the implementation of the LegalServices Schemes and Programmes; or

3. An eminent social worker who is engaged in the upliftment of weaker sections of people,including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women, children, rural and urban labour.

The experience and qualification of “other persons” mentioned in clause (b) sha ll be prescribedby the State Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of High Court.

COGNIZANCE OF PENDING CASES AND DETERMINATION: A. On Application :

When all the parties to the case agree for referring the case to Lok Adalat, or

When one of the party to the case makes an application to court, praying to refer the case toLok Adalat and the court is prima facie satisfied that there are chances for settlement

B. Suo Moto:

Where the court is satisfied that the matter is an appropriate one to be taken cognizance of, by the Lok Adalat, then the court shall refer the case to the Lok Adalat, after giving a reasonableopportunity for hearing to all the parties. Further, the Authority or Committee organising Lok

Adalat may, on application from any party to a dispute, refer the said dispute to Lok Adalat, aftergiving a reasonable opportunity for hearing to all the parties.

Lok Adalat shall proceed to dispose of a case refereed to it expeditiously. It shall be guided by principles of law, justice, equity and fair Permanent Lok Adalaty. It shall yearn to reach asettlement or compromise between parties.



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When no compromise or settlement is accomplished, the case is to be returned to the court which referred it. Then the case will proceed in the court from the stage immediately before thereference .

PASSING OF THE AWARD:

Every award of Lok Adalat shall be deemed to be a decree of a civil court.

Every award shall be signed by all the parties to the dispute and the panel constituting the Lok Adalat.

Every award shall form part of the judicial records.

Every award shall be categorical and lucid.

Every award shall be in the regional language or in English.

A certified copy of the award will be given free of cost, to all the parties.

Every award made by Lok Adalat shall be final and binding on all the parties to thedispute, and no appeal shall lie to any court against the award.

If a pending case is settled at Lok Adalat, any court fee already paid will be refunded asprovided by the court fees act 1870.

POWERS OF LOK ADALATi) The Lok Adalat shall have the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908,

while trying a suit, in respect of the following matters:-

a) Power to summon and enforce the attendance of any witness and to examine him/her onoath.

b) Power to enforce the discovery and production of any document.

c) Power to receive evidence on affidavits,

d) Power for requisitioning of any public record or document or copy thereof or from any court.

e) Such other matters as may be prescribed.

ii) Every Lok Adalat shall have the power to specify its own procedure for the determination of any dispute coming before it.

iii) All proceedings before a Lok Adalat shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within themeaning of Sections 193, 219 and 228 of IPC.

iv) Every Lok Adalat shall be deemed to be a Civil Court for the purpose of Sec 195and Chapter XXVI of Cr.P.C.

PERMANENT LOK ADALAT:In 2002, Parliament brought about certain amendments to the Legal Services Authorities Act,1987. The said amendment introduced Chapter VI-A with the caption PRE LITIGATION



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CONCILIATION AND SETTLEMENT. Section 22-B envisages establishment of "PERMANENT LOK ADALATS (PLA)" at different places for considering the cases inrespect of Public Utility Services (PUS). The Central or State Authorities may establish by notification, Permanent Lok Adalats at any Permanent Lok Adalats, for determining issues inconnection to Public Utility Services.

Public Utility 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 ADALAT s have the same powers that are vested on the Lok-Adalats,mentioned under Section 22(1) of the Act.

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF PREMANENT LOK ADALAT

Chairman -- A person who is or has been a district Judge or Additional District Judge or has held judicialoffice higher in rank than that of a District Judge, shall be the Chairman.Members --

Two other persons having adequate experience in Public Utility Service to be nominated by Central Government on the recommendation of Central Authority and by the State Governmenton the recommendation of the State Authority.COGNIZANCE OF PENDING CASES BY LOK ADALATa. Any party to a dispute can apply to Permanent Lok Adalat for settlement of a dispute inrespect of a public utility service, which is not pending before any court.

b. Permanent Lok Adalat does not have jurisdiction to entertain disputes involving offences which are not compoundable.

c. Permanent Lok Adalat does not have jurisdiction to entertain a matter where the value of theproperty involved exceeds ten lakhs, which limit can be enhanced as provided for.

d. Once, an application is preferred to PERMANENT LOK ADALAT for determination of adispute, no party to such application can invoke thejurisdiction of any court in the same dispute.

ADVANTAGES OF LOK ADALAT(i) Speedy Justice And Saving From The Lengthy Court Procedures: - Lok Adalats ensurespeedier justice because it can be conducted at suitable places, arranged very fast, in locallanguages 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 theLok Adalat judge directly and explain their stand in the dispute and the reasons thereof, which isnot possible in a regular court of law.

(ii) Justice At No Cost: - Lok Adalat is the only institutionalized mechanism of dispute resolutionin 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 isrefunded in the manner provided under the Court Fees Act if the dispute is settled at the Lok



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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.

(iii) Solving Problems Of Backlog Cases: - 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 importantaspect is that the award is final and cannot be appealed, not even under Article 226 because it is ajudgment by consent. All proceedings of a Lok Adalat are deemed to be judicial proceedings andevery 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.

(iv) 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 theproceedings, a Lok Adalat acts as a conciliator and not as an arbitrator. Its role is to persuade theparties 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. Itencourages consensual arrangements. It is not possible for Lok Adalat to decide upon any issuenot acceptable to any of the parties.In Lok Adalats, disputes are not only settled but also the cordial relations between the parties areretained as disputes are resolved amicably. Hence, it is a very healthy way of dispute resolution.

DRAWBACKS OF LOK ADALATS

Presently, Lok Adalat is considered to be one of the best Alternative Disputes ResolutionSystems. Just like every other system, Lok Adalat is also having several virtues and it suffers fromfew ill as well. As it is rightly said that, “Justice delayed is a Justice denied but Justice hurried is a

Justice buried”. Keeping this fact in mind, the higher judiciary in many of its judgments directedthat, the speedy proceeding conducted by way of Lok Adalat should not impair the right of any party. In this respect, the judgment given in the case of Manju Gupta V National InsuranceCompany is significant. The instant case demonstrates the sad state of compromises andsettlements in Lok Adalats, denying the fair minimum claims to the petitioners. In this case,Manju Gupta a three years old girl lost her legs in a Motor Accident. A Claim Petition in thisrespect was filed for Rs. 2.21 Lakhs. But there was an inordinate delay in its disposal, due to

which the father of the claimant agreed to settle the claim through Lok Adalat only for Rs.30,000/- This issue has been reported in the local newspapers. The High court of Allahabad hadtaken suo muto note of the issue and required the record of the case to be presented before it.Consequently, the High Court awarded Rs. 1, 10,000/- as compensation to the claimant.

In this case the said High Court observed,“In the name of the speedy resolution of disputes, thefair interests of the parties cannot be sacrificed, more importantly when the petitioners involvedare minors, insane and disabled.” While expressing its lamented remark about the present Lok -

Adalat system, the Kerela High Court poited out the drawback as –



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However, the major drawback in the existing scheme of organization of the Lok Adalats underChapter VI of the said Act is that the system of Lok Adalats is mainly based on compromise orsettlement between the parties. If the parties do not arrive at any compromise or settlement, thecase is either returned to the court of law or the parties are advised to seek remedy in a court of

law. This causes unnecessary delay in the dispensation of justice. If Lok Adalats are given powerto decide the cases on merits in case parties fail to arrive at any compromise or settlement, thisproblem can be tackled to a great extent.

However this defects has been removed in permanent Lok-Adalat. It has also been observed thatsince the forum of Lok-adalat are headed by the person from judiciary, they assume the role of Lok-adalat as judicial forum and deviate from the basic objectives for which it has been formed.

The apex court had also lamented on this issue.

CHALLENGES FACING LOK ADALATS

1. No doubt that, speedy justice is one of the important characteristics of Lok Adalat, but suchspeed must be reasonable, so that such awards should not be passed, which defeats the cause of justice.

2. To increase its utility, the concerned Legal services Authority or Committee shoulddisseminate information to the public about the holding of various Lok Adalats by it and successachieved thereby in providing speedy, equitable and inexpensive justice.

3. It is observed that, there is sufficient number of statutory provisions allowing justice throughLok Adalat. The only need is to organize awareness camps at grass-root level so that, theignorant people living in far-flung areas of the State get information about those provisions andreap the benefits of the same. The street plays are the best means to convey the message to theilliterate people. Law students can contribute in such activities effectively. Besides, the massmedia like newspapers, television, radios can also be desirable for this purpose.

4. The Lok Adalat Movement can be successful only if the people participate on voluntary basisin the functioning of Lok Adalat. This can be achieved by restraining themselves from invoking the jurisdiction of traditional Courts in trifle disputes.

5. It is also suggested that, there should be increased involvement of law students, social workersat various stages of Lok Adalat proceedings. Their help can be taken to impart knowledge to thelitigants about general working of Lok Adalat, its purpose, why their case is referred to Lok

Adalat etc. so as to enable them to put their points during Lok Adalat proceedings and geteffective and equitable justice through Lok Adalat.

CONCLUSION



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From above it exposes that, the institution of Lok Adalat revolves round the principle of creating awareness amongst the disputants to the effect that, their welfare and interest really lies inarriving at amicable, immediate, consensual and peaceful settlement of disputes. It will go a long

way in strengthening our diverse, democratic values and rule of Law. The working of Lok Adalat

seems to be both fruitful and successful and has achieved those objectives, for which it has beenmeant. It is thus can be said that, the institution of Lok Adalat has a better utility in the contextof Indian society and the problems relating thereto. The overall functioning and achievement of Lok Adalat appears to be appreciable though not remarkable. Thus Lok Adalat acts as a forumfor speedy and equitable justice, where any of the sections of the can approach to resolve hisdispute in speedy and inexpensive manner and to his own satisfaction. So there is a needstrengthen the system of Lok Adalat in recent context, which in turn, help to realize theConstitutional goals of „equal and social justice to its fullest extent. It will, in turn, helpful toregain to reaffirm the public confidence in the judiciary.

The large population of India and the illiterate masses has found the regular dispensation of justice through regular courts very cumbersome and ineffective. The special condition prevailing in the Indian society and due to the economic structure, highly sanitized legal service is required

which is officious for the poor and ignorant masses. The Lok Adalat movement is no more anexperiment in India. It is now a success and needs to be replicated in matters which have not yetbeen under the domain of Lok Adalat. May be some brainstorming on the part of law makers,judge, lawyers and teachers would result in some modification so that the same model can beused effectively in business disputes. At present there is an urgent need to have an alternativedispute resolution for business disputes which is as good as the model of Lok Adalat. Moreoverthere is a need to use the technique used in Lok Adalat in conflicts related to public issues wherethe number of players is quite large and in most of the matters the government is also involvedin one way or the other.

Lok Adalats have to reinvent after almost six months to meet the challenges faced by thejudiciary. The new branches of law will require newer tools to have decisions acceptable to thelitigants. As new branches emerge aspirations are very high. Only time will tell how far Lok

Adalat movement shall go in India and elsewhere in curbing conflicts and disputes and inspreading harmony.

Mahatma Gandhi, father of the nation, pointed out that the importance of alternate disputeresolution.

“I realized that that the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties …. A large part of my timeduring the 20 year of my practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromiseof hundreds of cases. I lost nothing thereby not even money, certainly not my soul.”



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Lok Adalat System in India

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