Importance of Lok Adalat in Judicial System

1. Introduction And Brief History

The concept of conciliated settlement of disputes is not alien to the
traditional Indian culture and social life. Nyaya Panchayats and Gram
Panchayat provided seats for resolving the disputes in rural areas on an
immediate basis. Generally, any crime or civil dispute used to be resolved
within the village itself. Either village elders or caste elders or family
elders used to facilitate the process.

The introduction of Lok Adalats added a new chapter to the justice

dispensation system of this country and succeeded in providing a
supplementary forum to the victims for satisfactory settlement of their
disputes. This system is based on Gandhian principles. It is one of the
components of ADR systems. It is an Indian contribution to the world
jurisprudence of ADR. Lok Adalat (people’s courts), established by the
government settles dispute by the principles of justice, equity and fair
play, which are the guiding factors for decisions based on compromises to
be arrived at before such Adalats.

The camps of Lok Adalats were initially started in the state of Gujarat in
1982. The first Lok Adalat was organized on 14th March 1982 at Junagarh.
Maharashtra commenced the Lok Nyayalaya in 1984. The movement has
now subsequently spread to the entire country. The reason to create such
camps was only the pending cases and to give relief to the litigants who
were in a queue to get justice.

2. Statutory Provisions
Eminent judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts have many a time
emphasized the need for free legal aid to the poor. Legal Aid is a kind of
human right in the context of conflicts and contradictory interests. The
Central Government, taking note of the need for legal aid for the poor and
the needy, had introduced Article 39 (A) in the Constitution in February
1977.

Article 39 A of the Constitution of India provides for equal justice and free
legal aid. It is, therefore clear that the State has been ordained to secure
a legal system, which promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity.
The language of Article-39 A is understood in mandatory terms. This is
made more than clear by the use of the word “shall” in Art-39 A.

It is emphasized that the legal system should be able to deliver justice

expeditiously on the basis of equal opportunity and provide free legal aid
to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any
citizens by reasons of economic or other disabilities. It was in this context
that the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 has been enacted by the
Parliament. One of the aims of this Act is to organize Lok Adalats to secure
that the operation of legal system promotes justice on the basis of equal
opportunity. Chapter VI of the Act deals with Lok Adalats. The Act created
National, State and District Legal Service Authorities with the power to
organize Lok Adalats.

The poor and resourceless persons need justice, they require for that, an
access to justice. Mere recognition of rights does not help them, without
providing for necessary infrastructure to secure them justice whenever
needed. Even if the infrastructure is created, if he does not get the ‘legal
aid’ to reach it, the purpose of entire justice system suffers a defeat.

In Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar, the Supreme Court observed:

Today, unfortunately, in our country the poor are priced out of the judicial
system with the result that they are losing faith in the capacity of our
legal system to bring about changes in their life conditions and to deliver
justice to them. The poor in their contact with the legal system have
always been on the wrong side of the line. They have always come across
“law for the poor” rather than “law of the poor”. The law is regarded by
them as something mysterious and forbidding--always taking something
away from them and not as a positive and constructive social device for
changing the social economic order and improving their life conditions by
conferring rights and benefits on them. The result is that the legal system
has lost its credibility for the weaker section of the community. It is,
therefore, necessary that we should inject equal justice into legality and
that can be done only by dynamic and activist scheme of legal services.

3. Cases Suitable For Lok Adalats

Lok Adalats have competence to deal with a number of cases like:
· Compoundable civil, revenue and criminal cases.
· Motor accident compensation claims cases
· Partition Claims
· Damages Cases
· Matrimonial and family disputes
· Mutation of lands case
· Land Pattas cases
· Bonded Labour cases
· Land acquisition disputes
· Bank’s unpaid loan cases
· Arrears of retirement benefits cases
· Family Court cases
· Cases which are not sub-judice

4. Cognizance Of Cases By Lok Adalats

A Lok Adalat may take cognizance of cases, as per Section 20 of the Legal
Services Authority Act where:
(I) (a) the parties thereof agree; or
(b) one of the parties thereof makes an application to the court for
referring the case to the Lok Adalat for settlement and if such court is
prima facie satisfied that there are chances of such settlement; or
(II) the court is satisfied that the matter is an appropriate one to be taken
cognizance of by the Lok Adalat, the court shall refer the case to the Lok
Adalat :

Provided that no case shall be referred to the Lok Adalat by such court
except after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard to the parties.

5. Need For Lok Adalats

Justice Ramaswamy says: “ Resolving disputes through Lok Adalat not
only minimizes litigation expenditure, it saves valuable time of the parties
and their witnesses and also facilitates inexpensive and prompt remedy
appropriately to the satisfaction of both the parties”

Law Courts in India face mainly four problems:

· The number of courts and judges in all grades are alarmingly inadequate

· Increase in flow of cases in recent years due to multifarious Acts enacted

by the Central and State Governments

· The high cost involved in prosecuting or defending a case in a court of

law, due to heavy court fee, lawyer's fee and incidental charges

· Delay in disposal of cases resulting in huge pendency in all the courts

Lok Adalat has a positive contributory role in the administration of justice.

It supplements the efforts and work of the courts. Area of contribution
chosen for the purpose specially concerns and helps the common man,
the poor, backward and the needy-most sections of the society.

6. Advantages Of Lok Adalats

6.1 Speedy Justice And Saving From The Lengthy Court Procedures

Lok adalats ensure speedier justice because it can be conducted at

suitable places, arranged very fast, in local languages too, even for the
illiterates.

The procedural laws and the Evidence Act are not strictly followed while
assessing the merits of the claim by the Lok Adalat. Hence, Lok Adalats
are also known as “People’s Festivals of Justice”

The victims and the offender may be represented by their advocate or

they can interact with the Lok Adalat judge directly and explain their
stand in the dispute and the reasons thereof, which is not possible in a
regular court of law.

6.2 Justice At No Cost

Abraham Lincoln has observed:
"Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbours to compromise wherever
you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser - in
fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker, the lawyer has a
superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business
enough."

Lok Adalat is the only institutionalized mechanism of dispute resolution in

which the parties do not have to bear any expenses.

There is no court fee in Lok Adalat. If the case is already filed in the
regular court, the fee paid is refunded in the manner provided under the
Court Fees Act if the dispute is settled at the Lok Adalat. This kind of
refund is an incentive given to parties to negotiate for settlement. Lok
Adalat is a boon to the litigant public, where they can get their disputes
settled fast and free of cost.

Denial of free legal services to the poor accused persons or under trial
prisoners would vitiate the principle of “reasonable, just and fair”
procedure which is implied in the right to life and personal liberty under
Article 21 of the Constitution.

In Suk Das v. Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh, the Apex Court held
that failure to provide free legal aid to an accused at the State’s cost
would vitiate the trial. The Court has set aside the conviction of an
accused on the ground that he was not provided with legal aid at the time
of his trial and thus there was violation of Article 21 of the Constitution.

6.3 Solving Problems Of Backlog Cases

Delivering the inaugural address at a seminar on judicial reforms, the
President said: “Delays render the common man’s knock on the temple of
justice a frustrating experience. Litigants are not able to lead normal lives
being unsure of the verdict in their case.’’ Terming the pending cases as
an “explosion of litigation,” she said the current figures reveal that the
arrears in HCs exceeded 40 lakh cases and in subordinate courts 270 lakh.

The curse of backlogs in India is well known and Andhra Pradesh High
Court judge Justice V V Rao has gone on to say that it will take 320 years
for the Indian Judiciary to clear its backlog.

In a Lok Adalat, if a compromise is reached, an award is made and is

binding on the parties. It is enforced as a decree of a civil court. An
important aspect is that the award is final and cannot be appealed, not
even under Article 226 because it is a judgment by consent. All
proceedings of a Lok Adalat are deemed to be judicial proceedings and
every Lok Adalat is deemed to be a Civil Court. Section 25 of the Legal
Services Authority Act, 1987 provides that the provisions of the act have
an overriding effect notwithstanding anything which is inconsistent with
any other law.
In Punjab National Bank v. Lakshmichand Rai, an appeal was filed under S.
96 of the Code of Civil Procedure against the award made by a Lok Adalat.
The question before the court was whether such can appeal is
maintainable. So in this case it was iterated that “an appeal would not lie
under the provisions of Section 96 C.P.C. Lok Adalat is conducted under an
independent enactment and once the award is made by Lok Adalat the
right of appeal shall be governed by the Legal Services Authority Act.” It
has been specifically mentioned in S. 21(2) that no appeal shall die
against an order of a Lok Adalat.

Further, in Board of Trustees of the Port of Visakhapatnam v. Presiding

Officer, Permanent, Lok Adalat-cum-Secretary, District Legal Services
Authority, Visakhapatnam and Anr., , it was observed that the award is
enforceable as a decree and it is final. The endeavor is only to see that
the disputes are narrowed down and make the final settlement so that the
parties are not again driven to further litigation or any dispute.

The scheme also helps the overburdened Courts to alleviate the burden of
arrears of cases and as the award becomes final and binding on both the
parties, no appeal is filed in the Appellate Court and, as such, the burden
of the Appellate Court in hierarchy is also reduced. Hence, to alleviate the
accumulation of cases, the Lok Adalat is the need of the day.

6.4 Maintenance Of Cordial Relations

The main thrust of Lok Adalats is on compromise. When no compromise is
reached, the matter goes back to the court. While conducting the
proceedings, a Lok Adalat acts as a conciliator and not as an arbitrator. Its
role is to persuade the parties to hit upon a solution and help in
reconciling the contesting differences. Lok Adalat cannot decide the issues
nor can it influence or force the parties to decide in a particular way. It
encourages consensual arrangements. It is not possible for lok adalat to
decide upon any issue not acceptable to any of the parties.

Lok Adalats are also required to follow the principles of natural justice and
other legal principles. In Kishan Rao v. Bidar District Legal Services
Authority, the question raised was whether the Lok Adalat could pass a
decree when all the parties had not appeared before the Lok Adalat nor
had notice been issued to them. The Karnataka High Court interpreted
Section 20(3) of the Legal Services Authorities Act to hold that all the
parties to the suit must be present if the compromise was to be a valid
one. Thus the impugned decree was struck down as being a nullity by
reason of violation of natural justice..

In Lok Adalats, disputes are not only settled but also the cordial relations
between the parties are retained as disputes are resolved amicably.
Hence, it is a very healthy way of dispute resolution.

Conclusion
Lok Adalats, as it has been again and again iterated throughout the paper,
serve very crucial functions in a country due to many factors like pending
cases, illiteracy etc. The Lok Adalat was a historic necessity in a country
like India where illiteracy dominated about all aspects of governance. The
most desired function of lok adalats may seem to be clearing the backlog,
with the latest report showing 3 crore pending cases in Indian courts but
the other functions cannot be ignored. The concept of Lok Adalat has been
a success in practice.

Lok Adalats play a very important role to advance and strengthen “equal
access to justice”, the heart of the Constitution of India, a reality. This
Indian contribution to world ADR jurisprudence needs to be taken full
advantage of. Maximum number of Lok Adalats need to be organized to
achieve the Gandhian Principle of Gram Swaraj and “access to justice for
all”.

Hon’ble Delhi High Court has given a landmark decision highlighting the
significance of Lok Adalat movement. It has far reaching ramifications.
Landmark Decision of Hon’ble Delhi High Court AIR 1999 Delhi Page-88

Abdul Hasan and National Legal Services Authority-Petitioner Vs. Delhi

Vidyut Board and others

Facts of the Case - The petitioner filed a writ petition before Delhi High
Court for restoration of electricity at his premises, which was disconnected
by the Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) on account of non-payment of Bill.
Interalia, the grievances of the citizens were not only confined to the DVB
but also directed against the State agencies like DDA, Municipal
Corporation, MTNL, GIC and other bodies, Court notices were directed to
be issued to NALSA and Delhi State Legal Service Authority. Judgment
Held- His lordship Hon'ble Mr. Justice Anil Dev Singh passed the order
giving directions for setting up of permanent Lok Adalats. The scholarly
observations of His Lordship Mr Justice Anil Dev Singh deserve special
commendations and are worthy of note. It will be profitable to reproduce
the important text and abstract from this judgment, which should be an
eye opener for all of us. It should also steer the conscience of all, as there
is an increasing need to make Lok Adalat movement a permanent feature.

Article 39 A of the Constitution of India provides for equal justice and free
legal aid. It is, therefore clear that the State has been ordained to secure
a legal system, which promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity.
The language of Article-39 A is couched in mandatory terms. This is made
more than clear by the use of the twice-occurring word shall in Art-39 A. It
is emphasized that the legal system should be able to deliver justice
expeditiously on the basis of equal opportunity and provide free legal aid
to secure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any
citizens by reasons of economic or other disabilities. It was in this context
that the parliament enacted the Legal Services Authority Act-1987.
The need of the hour is frantically beckoning for setting up Lok Adalats on
permanent and continuous basis. What we do today will shape our
tomorrow. Lok Adalat is between an ever-burdened Court System crushing
the choice under its own weight and alternative dispute resolution
machinery including an inexpensive and quick dispensation of justice. The
Lok Adalat and alternative dispute resolution experiment must succeed
otherwise the consequence for an over burdened court system would be
disastrous.