“I had learnt the true practice of law, I had learnt to find out the better side o

f human nature and to enter men’s hearts I realized that the true function of a la
wyer was to unite parties given as under. The lesson was so indelibly burnt into
me that large part of my time during the twenty years of my practice as a lawye
r was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundreds of cases” – Mahatma
Gandhi
The Indian judiciary has gained notoriety for huge backlogs and delays in the di
sposal of cases. Considerable efforts have been made by the government and the j
udiciary to tackle this issue but a need for effective alternative dispute resol
ution (ADR) mechanism remains. The concept of ‘Lok Adalat’ is truly an innovative In
dian contribution. It literally means a people’s court. The true basis of settleme
nt of disputes by the Lok Adalat is the principle of mutual consent and voluntar
y acceptance of the conciliation. It is a participative and promising ADR mechan
ism. It revolves around the principle of creating awareness amongst the disputan
ts to the effect that their welfare and interest, lies in arriving at amicable,
immediate, consensual and peaceful settlement of the disputes. They have usually
been a very effective alternative to litigation. So much so that according to G
overnment of India’s statistic in 2001, around 15 million cases have been settled
by various types of Lok Adalats.
Since, the very purpose of a Lok Adalat is to simplify the court process for par
ties; the procedure has minimum legal formalities. The Lok Adalat is presided ov
er by a sitting or retired judicial officer as the chairman, with two other memb
ers, usually a lawyer and a social worker. It has been observed that Lok Adalats
provide a better platform for settlement of money claims where only the quantum
is under question. Hence a majority of motor accident compensation claim cases
are disposed of by Lok Adalats every year. One important requisite is that both
parties concerned should give their consent for settlement through Lok Adalat an
d to accept its decision. A Lok Adalat has the jurisdiction over any matter whic
h may be pending before any court including matters at pre-litigation stage but
any matter relating to an offence not compoundable under any law cannot be decid
ed by the Lok Adalat even if the parties involved agree towards settlement. Lok
Adalats can take into consideration matters involving persons entitled to free l
egal aid and also all other persons and institutions. Any one or more of the par
ties to a dispute in court can move an application to the court where their matt
er is pending, for such matter being taken up in the Lok Adalat and once a settl
ement is reached, the award passed by it shall be final with equal enforceabilit
y as a decree of a Civil Court. In 1987, the Legal Services Authorities Act was
enacted to give a statutory backing to the prevalent legal aid and ADR programm
es including Lok Adalats spread across the country and it has continued to be th
e Act governing the functioning of Lok Adalats in India.