In this article, Mansi Baithija of UPES Dehradun discusses what does it mean if my case is referred to Lok Adalat.
The goal of ADR is to check litigation explosion, make the equity framework more affordable and effortlessly available to the uneducated and financially unstable people.
The concentration is to maintain a strategic distance from fights and build up a congruous connection between the debating parties by settling the dispute through a procedure of arbitration, mediation, negotiation and the preferences.
The ADR framework can never be an entire alternative to the ordinary arrangement of dispute determination. For instance, settling of criminal disputes is not be possible through the ADR instrument. There is not a viable replacement for Court choices in criminal law. Additionally, it is vital for both the parties to be really keen on settling the dispute calmly.
The Courts of law are gone up against with four principle issues which are as per the following
- The quantity of Courts and judges in all evaluations is extremely low.
- The increase in the quantity of cases attributable to the different State and Central Acts.
- The costs required in indicting or defending a case. The Court expense, the lawyer’s charge, and the additional charges add up to a significant substantial entirety.
- The process is extremely awkward and tedious owing to the gigantic number of already pending cases.
There are certain methods of ADR in India
- Tribunals
- Lok Adalats
- Arbitration
- Conciliation
- Fast track courts
Lok Adalat
Lok Adalat (individuals’ courts) settles the dispute through assuagement and compromise. Lok Adalat acknowledges the cases pending in the general courts inside their purview which could be settled by conciliation. Lok Adalat is an exceptional sort of individuals’ court in which disputes understood by coordinate talks between the parties.
The individuals from the legal profession, college students, social associations, beneficent and charitable establishments and other comparable associations might be related with Lok Adalat.
Striking components of this dispute resolution are interest, settlement, reasonableness, desires, willfulness, neighbourliness, straightforwardness and absence of antipathy. After they look into the case, Lok Adalats, attempt to fathom the basic contrasts which generally are probably going to leave for achieving outcomes through common comprehension and trade off.
Lok Adalats must consist of minimum two middlemen. One of them must be a lawyer or an expert in that particular area and another one must be a sitting or retired judge.
Vital legislations
- Article 39-A – right to free and speedy trial.
- Legal Services Authorities Act.
- Section 96(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Types of Lok Adalat
Continuous Lok Adalat
This type of Lok Adalat is organized for a number of days continuously.
Daily Lok Adalat
As the name suggests, these are held every day.
Mobile Lok Adalat
These are the utility vans which are set up in different areas to resolve petty issues.
Mega Lok Adalat
This is held on a single day on the state level, in all the courts of the state.
National level Lok Adalats
These are held at regular intervals throughout the country. The pending cases are disposed of in huge numbers.
Permanent Lok Adalats
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 the compulsory pre-litigation mechanism for conciliation and settlement of cases relating to Public Utility Services like transport, postal, telegraph etc.
When can a case be referred to Lok Adalat?
If any of the party involved in a dispute, prior to approaching the court, files a grievance to the legal service authority of the state, the case is taken by the Lok Adalats. This is the pre-litigation stage.
Approaching the Lok Adalat mechanism is a simple procedure and it is cost free too. Cases already pending before any court can also be referred to the Lok Adalats if both the parties consent to it. ( section 20 of the legal service authority act).
One can file a grievance on the website of national legal services authority. If the court before which a case is pending, finds the case suitable for it, it can be referred to the Lok Adalat by the bench.
What should you expect if your case is referred to a Lok Adalat
- After referring the case, the Lok Adalat tries to communicate with the parties. They might invite you to for a meeting or communicate with you in writing or orally. In this stage, the factual information is discussed and if any one party desires to keep the information confidential from another party, it can be done.
- Suggestions are invited from both the parties to settle the case.
- When the Lok Adalat believes that there are elements of settlement of the dispute and that the terms might be acceptable by the parties, it is informed to the parties for observation and modifications and accordingly, the dispute is resolved.
- As per the supreme court of India, in the case of PT Thomas v Thomas job, the award declared by a Lok Adalat is final and binding. Therefore no appeal lies in the cases resolved by the Lok Adalats.
“In our opinion, the award of the Lok Adalat is fictionally deemed to be decrees of Court and therefore the courts have all the powers in relation thereto as it has in relation to a decree passed by itself. This, in our opinion, includes the powers to extend the time in appropriate cases. In our opinion, the award passed by the Lok Adalat is the decision of the court itself though arrived at by the simpler method of conciliation instead of the process of arguments in court. The effect is the same. In this connection, the High Court has failed to note that by the award what is put an end to is the appeal in the District Court and thereby the litigations between brothers forever. The view was taken by the High Court, in our view, will totally defeat the object and purposes of the Legal Services Authorities Act and render the decision of the Lok Adalat meaningless.”
In this connection, the High Court has failed to note that by the award what is put an end to is the appeal in the District Court and thereby the litigations between brothers forever. The view was taken by the High Court, in our view, will totally defeat the object and purposes of the Legal Services Authorities Act and render the decision of the Lok Adalat meaningless.”
- If the case is referred via a court then the award granted by Lok Adalat mentions a clause regarding refund of court fee to the parties.
- The members of Lok Adalat ensure that the issue is settled by mutual consent and that there is no element of coercion or force.
- It is the duty of the members of the Lok Adalat to ensure that the parties affix their signatures only if they fully understand and agree to the terms of settlement.
- All the information regarding the case and proceedings are kept confidential.if any member of the Lok Adalat is found guilty of breaching the confidentiality clause, he shall be removed from the panel of members of the Lok Adalat.
- Your lawyer can appear before the Lok Adalat on your behalf but an effort must be made to present yourself.
Article 39A of our Constitution explicitly supports the statement “justice delayed is justice denied”. It is true that the backlog of cases in Indian cases has reached a point where it might take more than 300 years to clear them off. This is the major reason what makes our judicial system so slow and hard to manage and in turn, a lot of people lose faith in the legal system.
Only the wealthy class of the society is able to reach out to effective justice while the poor can’t afford to hire an established attorney, they are not able to solve their grievances.
It is also true that the legal system is facing litigation explosion but that doesn’t serve as an excuse to deny justice to any person. The establishment of Lok Adalats in India has helped to make the situation better. The first Lok Adalat was organized in 1982 in Junagarh, Maharashtra. The National Lok Adalat held on 08.04.2017 was able to dispose of 9,45,530 cases across the country.
References
2005 (3) RCR (Civil) 621.
