Nature of Cases To Be Referred To 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. Under the said Act, 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 of the Lok Adalat though there is
no provision for an appeal against such an award, but they are free to initiate
litigation by approaching the court of appropriate jurisdiction by filing a case by
following the required procedure, in exercise of their right to litigate.
There is no court fee payable when a matter is filed in a Lok Adalat. If a matter
pending in the court of law 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 persons deciding the cases in the Lok Adalats are called the Members of the
Lok Adalats, they have the role of statutory conciliators only and do not have any
judicial role; therefore they can only persuade the parties to come to a conclusion
for settling the dispute outside the court in the Lok Adalat and shall not pressurize
or coerce any of the parties to compromise or settle cases or matters either directly
or indirectly. T
he Lok Adalat shall not decide the matter so referred at its own instance, instead
the same would be decided on the basis of the compromise or settlement between
the parties. The members shall assist the parties in an independent and impartial
manner in their attempt to reach amicable settlement of their dispute.
Nature of Cases to be Referred to Lok Adalat
1. Any case pending before any court.
2. 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.
Which Lok Adalat to be Approached
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 court.
(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 Lok Adalat for amicable settlement of the
dispute for which notice would then be issued to the other party.
Levels and Composition of Lok Adalats:
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 would constitute
benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judge of
the High Court 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 Lok Adalat
would constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, 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 programmes 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 organizing the Lok Adalat
would constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, 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 programmes or a
person engaged in para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman.
National Lok Adalat
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.
Permanent Lok Adalat
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, postal, telegraph etc. Here,
even if the parties fail to reach to 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. The jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalats is upto Rs. Ten
Lakhs. Here if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat
has the jurisdiction to decide the case. The award of the Permanent Lok Adalat is
final and binding upon the parties. The Lok Adalat may conduct the proceedings in
such a manner as it considers appropriate, taking into account the circumstances of
the case, wishes of the parties like requests to hear oral statements, speedy
settlement of dispute etc.
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.
As on 30.09.2015, more than 15.14 lakhs Lok Adalats have been organized in the
country since its inception. More than 8.25 crore cases have been settled by this
mechanism so far.

Nature of Cases To Be Referred To Lok Adalat

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Nature of Cases To Be Referred To Lok Adalat

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NALSA along with other Legal Services Institutions conducts Lok Adalats.

Nature of Cases to be Referred to Lok Adalat

1. Any case pending before any court.

(1) Any case pending before; or

(A) Case pending before the court.

(B) Any dispute at pre-litigative stage.

Levels and Composition of Lok Adalats:

At the State Authority Level -

At High Court Level -

National Lok Adalat

Permanent Lok Adalat

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