• Source:JND
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Lok Adalat:  The Supreme Court of India on Monday initiated a five-day special Lok Adalat aimed at amicably resolving the suitable pending disputes. The week-long Lok Adalat, marking 75 years of the apex court, will be taken up by the first seven benches of the Supreme Court, CJI DY Chandrachud announced. Addressing the first sitting, the Chief Justice requested the lawyers and citizens to bring forward cases which can be resolved through the Lok Adalat.

"From today till Friday, we will have the Supreme Court Lok Adalat and the first seven benches will sit for it. If lawyers have cases which can go before the Lok Adalat, please bring them," the CJI said at the outset of the day's proceedings.

What Is A Lok Adalat

With its roots in 'Gandhian' philosophy, the Lok Adalat, literally meaning "People's Court", is an alternative dispute resolution mechanism aimed at facilitating amicable settlement of lawsuits of civil and criminal nature. Although the concept of Lok Adalat has been around since ancient times in India, its validity holds even in modern times.

The first Lok Adalat was organised in Gujarat in 1982. Since then, its prominence and popularity increased manyfold, attracting citizens to resolve issues in an amicable, free and speedy way. Due to increasing popularity, the Lok Adalat was given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

Who Can Organise Lok Adalat

According to the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), the state legal service authorities, district legal service authorities, the Supreme Court and the High Courts can organise Lok Adalats as per their requirements and can entertain cases as they see fit.

Generally, a Lok Adalat consists of a member of the judiciary, an advocate and a social worker. However, the competition can differ as per establishing authority's need and availability.

Who Can Approach A Lok Adalat

A Lok Adalat hears matters relating to matrimonial disputes, family disputes, criminal (compoundable offences) cases, land acquisition cases, labour disputes, workmen’s compensation cases, and bank recovery cases. Some other matters, except non-compoundable criminal offences, can be taken up by the Lok Adalat.

These special courts can be approached by any party or parties related to such disputes. Pending cases before the courts can also be referred to it, whether pending or pre-litigation.

How Lok Adalat Can Help Mitigate India's Huge Case Pendency

These free, speedy and flexible courts offer many benefits to the parties. The parties can directly interact and present their cases before the judges, which is usually not the case in conventional courts. Further, there is no strict application of procedural laws while assessing the claim by Lok Adalat.

The award by a Lok Adalat is 'binding' on the parties and it has the status of a decree of a civil court and it is non-appealable, which does not cause the delay in the settlement of disputes finally. This helps in the speedy resolution of lawsuits, helping courts in disposing of a large number of cases and easing off the pendency.

Thus, Lok Adalat can be considered a panacea to the Indian judicial system, which is currently facing a burden of over 5 crore pending court cases.