LOK ADALAT

 NALSA along with other Legal Services Institutions conducts Lok Adalats

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 award (decision) made by the Lok Adalats is deemed to be a decree of a civil court and is final and binding on all parties and no appeal against such an award lies before any court of law.

If the parties are not satisfied with the award then they are free to initiate litigation by approaching the court of appropriate jurisdiction by filing a case by following the required procedure

There is no court fee payable when a matter is filed in a Lok Adalat.

If a matter pending in the court 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 .  the Members of the Lok Adalats,takes decisions of the cases, they have the role of statutory conciliators only and do not have any judicial role. They can only persuade the parties to come to a conclusion for settling the dispute outside the court

The members shall assist the parties in an independent and impartial manner in their attempt to reach amicable settlement

WHICH MATTERS ARE REFERRED TO THE LOK ADALAT 

Any case pending before any court.

 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. As per section 18(1) of the Act, a Lok Adalat shall have jurisdiction to determine and to arrive at a compromise or settlement between the parties to a dispute in respect of -(1) Any case pending before; or

(2) Any matter which is falling within the jurisdiction of, and is not brought before, any court for which the Lok Adalat is organised.

Provided that the Lok Adalat shall have no jurisdiction in respect of matters relating to divorce or matters relating to an offence not compoundable under any law. 

How to Get the Case Referred to the Lok Adalat for Settlement (A) Case pending before the .(B) Any dispute at pre-litigative stage.

The State Legal Services Authority or District Legal Services Authority as the case may be on receipt of an application from any one of the parties at a pre-litigation stage may refer such matter to the LA.  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 constitutes benches of the LA - bench comprising of a sitting or retired judge of the HC 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 LA constitutes bench - 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 a person engaged in para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman.

At Taluk Level - The Secretary of the Taluk Legal Services Committee constitutes benches - 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 a person engaged in para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman.  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.

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 are 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.            

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 

if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat has the jurisdiction to decide the case.

The Lok Adalat may conduct the proceedings in such a manner as it considers appropriate

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.

the Lok Adalat seems to be losing its importance and is unlikely to deliver the desired results 

According to the Legal experts the lack of ‘compromising spirit’ among the dissenting parties, rigid attitude of banks and financial institutions and the habit of fighting sigh by the burrowers are the main reasons for the lacklustre outcome of Lok Adalats.