CLINICAL COURSE – II

WRITTEN REPORT

SUBMITTED TO: Ms. Kavita Singh

SUBMITTED BY: Sukriti Jha (2015BALLB06)

Saara Mehta (2015BALLB10)

 Introduction and Brief History
The concept of conciliated settlement of disputes is not alien to the traditional Indian culture
and social life. NyayaPanchayats 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 LokAdalats 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. The camps of LokAdalats were initially started in the state of Gujarat in 1982. The first
LokAdalat was organized on 14th March 1982 at Junagarh. Maharashtra commenced the
LokNyayalaya 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

Statutory Provisions
Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 gave a statutory status to LokAdalats pursuant to the
Constitutional mandate in Art. 39-A of the Constitution of India, contains various provisions for
settlements of dispute through LokAdalat.

The expression ‘LokAdalat’ refers to a summary procedure for disposal of cases pending in
various courts through the process of arbitration and settlement between the parties at the
instance of the institution called LokAdalat. Thus the expression LokAdalat can be used in the
following two senses:

1. The process by which the cases pending in various courts are settled with the consent of the
parties in a summary way.
2. The institution which take initiative for arriving at a settlement of the case.
By virtue of Sec.19 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, every state authority, district
authority, Supreme Court Legal Services Committee or High Court Legal Services Committee or
the Thaluk Legal Service Committee may organiseLokAdalats for settlement of cases pending in
courts.

The LokAdalat is presided over by a sitting or retired judicial officer as a chairman, with two
other members, usually a lawyer and a social worker. 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 LokAdalat.
The procedural laws, and the Evidence Act are not strictly followed while assessing the merits of
the claim by the LokAdalat.
Main condition of the LokAdalat is that both parties in dispute should agree for settlement. The
decision of LokAdalat is binding on the parties to the disputes and its order is capable of
execution through legal process. No appeal lies against the order of the LokAdalat
.

Cases Suitable For LokAdalats

LokAdalats 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
 Cognizance Of Cases By LokAdalats
A LokAdalat 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
LokAdalat 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
LokAdalat, the court shall refer the case to the LokAdalat

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

Nature of Cases to be Referred to LokAdalat

1. Any case pending before any court.

2. Any dispute which has not been brought before any court and is likely to be filed before the
court.
Provided that any matter relating to an offence not compoundable under the law shall not be
settled in LokAdalat.

Which LokAdalat to be Approached

As per section 18(1) of the Act, a LokAdalat shall have jurisdiction to determine and to arrive at a
compromise or settlement between the parties to a dispute in respect of -
(1) Any case pending before; or
(2) Any matter which is falling within the jurisdiction of, and is not brought before, any court for
which the LokAdalat is organised.

Provided that the LokAdalat shall have no jurisdiction in respect of matters relating to divorce or
matters relating to an offence not compoundable under any law.

How to Get the Case Referred to the LokAdalat for Settlement

(A) Case pending before the court.

(B) Any dispute at pre-litigative stage.

The State Legal Services Authority or District Legal Services Authority as the case may be on
receipt of an application from any one of the parties at a pre-litigation stage may refer such matter
to the LokAdalat for amicable settlement of the dispute for which notice would then be issued to
the other party.

Levels and Composition of LokAdalats:

At the State Authority Level -

The Member Secretary of the State Legal Services Authority organizing the LokAdalat would
constitute benches of the LokAdalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judge of the
High Court or a sitting or retired judicial officer and any one or both of- a member from the legal
profession; a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the
implementation of legal services schemes or programmes.
At High Court Level -

The Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee would constitute benches of the
LokAdalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judge of the High Court and any one or
both of- a member from the legal profession; a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the
weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes.

At District Level -

The Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority organizing the LokAdalat would constitute
benches of the LokAdalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judicial officer and any
one or both of either a member from the legal profession; and/or a social worker engaged in the
upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes
or programmes or a person engaged in para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman.

At Taluk Level -

The Secretary of the Taluk Legal Services Committee organizing the LokAdalat would constitute
benches of the LokAdalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judicial officer and any
one or both of either a member from the legal profession; and/or a social worker engaged in the
upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes
or programmes or a person engaged in para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman.

National LokAdalat

National Level LokAdalats are held for at regular intervals where on a single day LokAdalats are
held throughout the country, in all the courts right from the Supreme Court till the Taluk Levels
wherein cases are disposed off in huge numbers. From February 2015, National LokAdalats are
being held on a specific subject matter every month.
Advantages OfLokAdalat
The benefits that litigants derive through LokAdalat are many,
1. There is no court fee and even if the case is already filed in the regular court, the fee paid will
be refunded if the dispute is settled at the LokAdalat.
2. There is no strict application of the procedural laws and the Evidence Act while assessing the
merits of the claim by the LokAdalat. The parties to the disputes though represented by their
Advocate can interact with the LokAdalat judge directly and explain their stands in the dispute
and the reasons therefore, which is not possible in a regular court of law.
3. Disputes can be brought before the LokAdalat directly instead of going to a regular court first
and then to the LokAdalat.
4. The decision of LokAdalat 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 LokAdalat whereas in
regular courts of law there is always a scope to appeal to the higher forum on the decision of the
trial court, which cause delay in the settlement of dispute finally. The reason being that in a
regular court, decision is that of the court but in LokAdalat it is mutual settlement and hence no
case for appeal will arise. In every respect the scheme of LokAdalat is a boon to the litigant
public, where they can get their disputes settled fast and free of cost.
5. Last but not the least, faster and inexpensive remedy with legal status

Disadvantages:
1. Justice delayed is justice denied but justice hurried is also justice buried. Faster justice comes
with a price of settlement made at the cost of lesser compensation and the petitioner had no time
to claim higher amount which he justly should have got as seen in many cases after which apex
court ordered LokAdalat to be careful about not impairing the right of any party involved in the
issue. Faster and easier justice must not come with the price of injustice which is what falls as a
disadvantage of LokAdalat.

2. Not all cases are suitable for lokadalat jurisdiction. Lokadalat is all about settlement and
compromise which is not what every case requires. Most cases in India require punishment and
correctional methods which is not under the dealing of lokadalat. These cases would usually fail
here and would then be recommended to courts. This would only create superfluous deferral in
the legal proceedings, sometimes which could be required as early as possible.

Experiences
We were allotted the courtroom of ADJ SC Upadhyay, who was regularly being approached by
civilians for legal advice on their dispute. It was fascinating to watch problems being resolved in
a non-litiguous forum without court fees and civil procedure rules and so on. We also visited a
courtroom where resolution of electricity disputes was happening and got the opportunity to
learn about settlement of disputes related to such matters.