NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY

BHOPAL

LOK ADALAT VISIT REPORT (2019-2020)

Under A.D.J. Kavita Verma

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

Prof. Kavita Singh Kartik Jaggi

& 2016 B.A.LL.B 31

Prof. Neha Sharma

Suyash Bhamore
2016 B.A.LL.B 32

Saksham Sinha
2016 B.A.LL.B 33
 Table of Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1

Legal Provision related to Lok Adalat ............................................................................................ 2

Observations ................................................................................................................................... 3

Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 5
 Introduction

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.

Lok Adalats (people’s courts) settle dispute through conciliation and compromise. First time it
was held in Chennai in 1986. It accepts cases pending in regular court under their jurisdiction.

The decision of the Lok Adalat is binding on the parties to the dispute and its order is capable of
execution through legal process. No appeal lies against the order of the Lok Adalat.

Lok Adalat is very effective in settlement of money claims. Disputes like partition
suits, damages and matrimonial cases can also be easily settled before Lok Adalat, as the scope
for compromise through an approach of give and take is high in these cases.

A Lok Adalat has the jurisdiction to settle, by way of effecting compromise between the parties,
any matter which may be pending before the court, as well as matters at pre-litigative stage i.e.
Disputes that have not been formally instituted in any court of law.

Some important features of Lok Adalats are:

• The Lok Adalat is presided over by a sitting or retired judicial officer as the chairman.

• Main condition of the Lok Adalat is that both parties in dispute should agree for settlement.

• There is no court fee.

• If the case is already filed in the regular court, the fee paid will be refunded if the dispute is
settled at the Lok Adalat.

• The procedural laws and the Evidence Act are not strictly followed while assessing the merits
of the claim by the Lok Adalat.

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 Legal Provision related to Lok Adalat
Section 89 of Civil Procedure Code provides for Settlement of disputes outside the Court.

(1) Where it appears to the court that there exist elements of a settlement which may be
acceptable to the parties, the court shall formulate the terms of settlement and give them to the
parties for their observations and after receiving the observation of the parties, the court may
reformulate the terms of a possible settlement and refer the same for-

(a) Arbitration;

(b) Conciliation

(c) Judicial settlement including settlement through Lok Adalat; or

(d) Mediation.

(2) Where a dispute had been referred-

(a) For arbitration or conciliation, the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
shall apply as if the proceedings for arbitration or conciliation were referred for settlement under
the provisions of that Act.

(b) To Lok Adalat, the court shall refer the same to the Lok Adalat in accordance with the
provisions of sub-section (1) of section 20 of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 and all
other provisions of that Act shall apply in respect of the dispute so referred to the Lok Adalat;

(c) For judicial settlement, the court shall refer the same to a suitable institution or person and
such institution or person shall be deemed to be a Lok Adalat and all the provisions of the Legal
Services Authority Act, 1987 shall apply as if the dispute were referred to a Lok Adalat under the
provisions of that Act;

(d) For mediation, the court shall effect a compromise between the parties and shall follow such
procedure as may be prescribed.

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 Observations

During the conversation with the presiding officer, we were told that with mainly two types of
cases will come before the Court today and they are:

1. Cases related to money claims;

2. Cases under section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act.

We were also told the process followed during Lok Adalat, where the parties submits an
application to the Court for resolving there dispute through Lok Adalat whereby a Docket is
created after which it is attached to the case files and the settlement agreement is presented
before the court where the judge signs it and the settlement reached by the party receives the seal
of the court.

Case number 1:

Ashok Jain v. Maina Jain

The parties were involved in a loan transaction where two loans of 4 lakh and 2 lakh EA forgiven
by the lender to the borrower. There was default on part of the borrower which resulted in the
accrual of interest. The dispute related to the rate at which the interest accrued for the past 3
years and the case was presently at the Appellate stage. Here, the parties entered into settlement
where by the borrower agreed to pay the principal amount with an additional amount of Rs.
15,000/- as a reduced rate of interest.

The parties were asked to deposit 2% of the suit value to the Legal Service Authority of the
Court. This was the benefit of entering into settlement before Lok Adalat where this settlement
was given a legal nature and the party was ask to deposit only 2% of the suit value. Also, the
Court fee paid by the parties was refunded.

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Case number 2:

Urmila Dubey v. Babu Khan & Ors.

This case revolved around an Insurance claim arising out of an accident. Here, the fulfillment of
requirement under section 160 of Motor Vehicle Act, 1980 was in question. Section 160 talks
about the duty to furnish particulars of vehicle involved in the accident. It stipulates an obligation
on the authority to furnish to that person, who alleges that he is entitled to claim compensation in
respect of an accident, the particulars of the vehicle relating to the identification marks for the
name and address of the person who was using the vehicle at the time of accident, within a
reasonable time. The insurance company was not willing to pay the amount it was supposed to
pay, as according to it there were some discrepancies in the documents received under Section
160.

However, the parties arrived at the settlement whereby the insurance company agreed to pay the
amount after adopting a lenient approach and after considering all other documents supporting
the claim. The matter was pending before the court for a long time. Lok Adalat helped the parties
to resolve disputes where by the assured also let go some of the amount to which he was entitled
in order to reach the settlement. The court fee of both the parties was refunded to them.

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 Conclusion

Lok Adalat is the contribution of India to the realm of alternative dispute resolution. This process
has gained popularity over time and this is clear from the fact regarding the number of cases
being resolved and the amount of compensation that is being provided on a single day. Lok
Adalat has emerged as a process which not only saves one's time but also money. Moreover,
Court fee is also refunded to the party once they reach a settlement.

During our visit at the Lok adalat we have witnessed the disposition of cases at the Lok Adalat to
get a first-hand account of legal proceedings. Generally the cases of trivial nature in which the
amount of fine was too low or where there was no or short term imprisonment, was referred to
the Lok Adalat for settlement so that the parties could get relief from the hectic legal proceedings
and they could amicably get their dispute resolved. Also this would help the court to reduce its
burden.

However on witnessing the proceedings in person, it appeared that majority of people were not
interested in attending the proceedings and were absent on the day because of which the
proceedings could not run smoothly.

Lok adalat, however, is a effective means of resolving disputes of trivial nature once the parties
conform to it. Lok Adalats can be functional at larger levels only if people are willing and aware
of its advantages and if the drawbacks are done away with.