CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, PATNA

ADR

Project on :-

LOK ADALAT

SUBMITTED TO: HRISHIKESH MANU SUBMITTED BY

FACULTY OF LAW ADARSH KUMAR

Roll No: 1704

3rd Year, 6th Semester

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CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, PATNA
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank MR. HRISHIKESH MANU whose guidance helped me a lot with
structuring my project. I owe the present accomplishment of my project to my friends, who
helped me immensely with materials throughout the project and without whom I couldn’t have
completed it in the present way.
I would also like to extend my gratitude to my parents and all those unseen hands who helped
me out at every stage of my project.

Thank you,
Adarsh Kumar
Roll no-1704.

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CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, PATNA
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work reported in the project entitled “Lok Adalat’’ submitted at
CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY is an authentic record of my work carried out
under the supervision of MR.HRISHIKESH MANU. I have not submitted this work elsewhere
for any other degree or diploma. I am fully responsible for the contents of my Project Report.

Adarsh Kumar

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Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.............................................................................................................2
DECLARATION...........................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................5
MEANING.................................................................................................................................5
ORIGIN......................................................................................................................................5
SCOPE AND OBJECT..............................................................................................................6
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY...................................................................................................7
HYPOTHESIS...............................................................................................................................7
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................7
RESEARCH QUESTIONS...........................................................................................................7
SOURCES OF DATA...................................................................................................................7
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY................................................................................................7
SCOPE OF THE STUDY..............................................................................................................7
STYLE OF CITATION.................................................................................................................7
CHARACTRISTICS AND FUNCTION OF LOK ADALAT AND PERMANENT LOK
ADALAT.......................................................................................................................................8
Lok Adalat Implements Indian Cultural Values........................................................................8
Lok Adalat an Integral Part of Constitution...............................................................................9
Lok Adalat Fulfils the Aspirations of Poor................................................................................9
Lok Adalat Participatory Justice System.................................................................................10
Wide Jurisdiction o f Lok Adalat.............................................................................................11
Function of lok adalat and permanent lok adalat.....................................................................12
JURISDICTION OF LOK ADALAT AND PERMANENT LOK ADALAT............................15
ORGANISATION OF LOK ADALAT:.................................................................................15
COGNIZANCE OF PENDING CASES AND DETERMINATION:....................................16
PASSING OF THE AWARD:.................................................................................................16
POWERS OF LOK ADALAT.................................................................................................17
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF LOK ADALAT.......................................................................19
Merits of lok adalat..................................................................................................................19
Demerits...................................................................................................................................20
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOK ADALAT AND PARMANENET LOK ADALAT..............21
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................23
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................25

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 INTRODUCTION

The concept of Lok Adalat is an innovative Indian contribution to the world jurisprudence.
The introduction of Lok Adalat 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. In ancient times the disputes were used to be referred to
“panchayat” which were established at village level. Panchayat’s used to resolve the dispute
through arbitration. It has proved to be a very effective alternative to litigation. This very
concept of settlement of dispute through mediation, negotiation or through arbitral process
known as decision of "Nyaya-Panchayat" is conceptualized and institutionalized in the
philosophy of Lok Adalat. It involves people who are directly or indirectly affected by dispute
resolution.

MEANING

The institution of Lok Adalat in India, as the very name suggests, means, People's Court.
"Lok" stands for "people" and the term "Adalat" means court. India has a long tradition and
history of such methods being practiced in the society at grass roots level.

ORIGIN
The concept of Lok Adalats was pushed back into oblivion in last few centuries before
independence and particularly during the British regime. Now, this concept has, once again,
been rejuvenated. It has, once again, become very popular and familiar amongst litigants.
This is the system which has deep roots in Indian legal history and its close allegiance to the
culture and perception of justice in Indian ethos. Experience has shown that it is one of the
very efficient and important ADRs and most suited to the Indian environment, culture and
societal interests. Camps of Lok Adalats were started initially in Gujarat in March 1982 and
now it has been extended throughout the Country.

The evolution of this movement was a part of the strategy to relieve heavy burden
on the Courts with pending cases and to give relief to the litigants who were in a queue to
get justice. The first Lok Adalat was held on March 14, 1982 at Junagarh in Gujarat the
land of Mahatma Gandhi. Maharashtra commenced the Lok Nyayalaya in 1984. Lok
Adalats have been very successful in settlement of motor accident claim cases,
matrimonial/family disputes, labourdisputes, disputes relating to public services such as
telephone, electricity, bank recovery cases and so on.
Some statistics may give us a feeling of tremendous satisfaction and encouragement. Up to the

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middle of last year (2004), more than 200,000 Lok Adalats have been held and therein more
than16 million cases have been settled, half of which were motor accident claim cases. More
than one billion US dollars were distributed by way of compensation to those who had
suffered accidents. 6.7 million persons have benefited through legal aid and advice.

SCOPE AND OBJECT

The advent of Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 gave a statutory status to Lok Adalats,
pursuant to the constitutional mandate in Article 39-A of the Constitution of India, contains
various provisions for settlement of disputes through Lok Adalat. It is an Act to constitute
legal services authorities to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections
of the society to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by
reason of economic or other disabilities, and to organize Lok Adalats to secure that the
operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity. Even before
the enforcement of the Act, the concept of Lok Adalat has been getting wide acceptance as
People's Courts as the very name signifies. Settlement of disputes at the hands of Panchayat
Heads or tribal heads was in vogue since ancient times. When statutory recognition had been
given to Lok Adalat, it was specifically provided that the award passed by the Lok Adalat
formulating the terms of compromise will have the force of decree of a court which can be
executed as a civil court decree. The evolution of movement called Lok Adalat was a part of
the strategy to relieve heavy burden on the Courts with pending cases and to give relief to the
litigants who were in a queue to get justice. It contains various provisions for

settlement of disputes through Lok Adalat. It is an Act to constitute legal services authorities
to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society to ensure
that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or
other disabilities, and to organize Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system
promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity.

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 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This research paper looks at the dimensions of Lok Adalat.

HYPOTHESIS
The researcher hypothesis is that the lok adalat is another mode of settlement of dispute which
helps the parties to settle the dispute.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The researcher depend upon the existing materials like books, case laws, thus the researcher
opted doctrinal method of research. The researcher visited library and refer the primary and
secondary sources available there.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
What are the jurisdiction of lok adalat?

What are the power of lok adalat?

SOURCES OF DATA
The researcher went for primary and secondary sources of data. Secondary sources are all those
work done on primary sources.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The researcher had time limitation as he has to complete this project within one month.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This research will be a source for a further researcher. This research will give him/her the basic
ideas in a very simple manner.

STYLE OF CITATION
A uniform style of citation has been followed throughout the paper.

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 CHARACTRISTICS AND FUNCTION OF LOK ADALAT AND PERMANENT LOK
ADALAT

The Indian judiciary is held in very high esteem in all the developing as well as the developed
countries of the world. However, there is criticism that the Indian judiciary is struggling with
many problems as the mounting burden of backlog of court cases, the astronomical rise of high
costs of litigation, corruption, inadequate number of judges, lack of sufficient accommodation
and staff, unpredictable delays, and in accessibilities of justice. 1 The Lok Adalat system is only
the answer of these significant problems of Indian judicial system. Lok Adalat an important
alternative method used for resolution of disputes, where justice is dispensed summarily without
too much emphasis on procedural technicalities. It enables the common people to ventilate their
grievances against the state agencies, other citizens and to seek a just amicable settlement if
possible. Such mutually agreed settlements arrived at by the disputants in the Lok Adalats
contribute to the greater social solidarity and better cohesion among litigants. The salient features
of this form of dispute resolution are participation, accommodation, fairness, expectation,
voluntariness, neighbor liness, transparency, efficiency, less legal technicalities and lack of
animosity. The followings are some of the colours and shades of nature of Lok Adalat.2

Lok Adalat Implements Indian Cultural Values

The Lok Adalat is an innovative system invented for dispensation of justice in a manner
compatible with the social, cultural, economic, political and administrative inheritance of India.
The people’s participation in justice delivery system such as Lok Adalat has prevailed from the
time immemorial as a part of our cultural heritage. The ancient concept of settlement of dispute
through mediation, negotiation or through arbitral process known as “People’s Court Verdict” or
decision of “Nyaya-Panch” is conceptualized and institutionalized in the philosophy of Lok
Adalat.61 After independence, the Lok Adalats were not constituted under specific rules and
regulations made under the legislations. The evolution of the structure of Lok Adalats has been a
gradual process and the founders of the institution have not attached much importance to this
aspect because their mind remained totally absorbed with the idea of resolving the disputes of the
local people speedily and save their time, energy and money so far as possible. Lok Adalat are
held generally, at public places where all the people presented, participate and persuade the

1
http://ihra.co.in/upload/index.php?mod=article&cat=Activities&article=8
2
http://kelsa.nic.in/lokadalat.htm

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disputants to arrive at a compromise, by following the principles of justice, truth(Satya), equity
and fairness.3 This kind of procedure is an unique symbol of our culture and values.

Lok Adalat an Integral Part of Constitution

The concept of Lok Adalat is an integral part of the Indian Constitutional Scheme mentioned in
Preamble, Part III and Part IV of the Constitution. Because the Constitution mandates not only to
impart justice in its legal sense, but also social, economic, and political sense. Equal justice and
free legal aid is a directive principle of state policy imbibed in Article 39A which is particularly
concerned with the need of qualitative and effective justice delivery mechanism. The institution
of Lok Adalat has been developed in the process of implementation of commitments of the
Constitution in order to mitigate not only the problem of justice delays resulting from
adjudication of even ordinary disputes by the normal courts procedure but also to dispense less
expensive justice quickly with the conciliatory efforts. So, Lok Adalat is a way to achieve the
constitution goals enshrined in different provisions.4

Lok Adalat Fulfils the Aspirations of Poor

The Lok Adalat system fulfils the requirement of justice of the poor, backward and illiterate
people who are often intimidated and confused by the greasy, semantics and substantive and
procedural laws and provides them this approachable system to resolve their disputes while
securing justice. As it is observed by Justice Dr. A.S. Anand, the Lok Adalats are providing an
effective solution to the three main drawbacks facing Indian justice delivery system which is
catalogued in the first three alphabets of English language. 5 These are A-Access to courts, B-
Backlog in courts resulting in delays and C-Cost of litigation. These drawbacks were putting a
fear in the mind of weakened section of society that they cannot get justice in ordinary courts
mechanism. But Lok Adalats are proving such means which provide justice without delay and
much cost to the socially and economically backward people residing in distant villages. In this
sense, it is a legal instrument which significantly helps us to achieve the goal of access to justice
to all.6 The Lok Adalats also bring consciousness among the poor regarding the benefits made
available to them by the Central and State Governments. It is really an institution to serve the
poor by means of dispensing justice for the reason that the poor need not go out of his village,
3
Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987;
4
http://www.adrcentre.in/images/pdfs/LOK_ADALAT_FINAL_PAPER.pdf
5
http://www.settlementnegotiation.org/adr/
6
Subhash Chandra Gupta, OMBUDSMAN : AN INDIAN PERSPECTIVE ,1995 MANAK PUBLICATIONS

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spend hard earned money and waste weeks and months in town in litigation and be exploited by
lawyers.65 In the present judicial system the rich people are in position to win the legal battle in
the courts whereas the poor class feel frustrated due to expensive and lengthy legal process.
However, the Lok Adalat brings the joy on the faces of poor litigants when the court fee is
refunded to them if their matter is settled by Lok Adalat. Similarly, in pre-litigation cases filed
directly in Lok Adalat, no court fee need to be paid. In this sense, Lok Adalat system provides
almost free justice to all.

Lok Adalat Participatory Justice System

Lok Adalat is one of the fine and familiar forums which has been playing an important role in
settlement of disputes. Some people equate Lok Adalat to conciliation or mediation, some treat it
with negotation or arbitration. Those who find it different from all these, call it “People’s court”.
It involves people who are directly or indirectly affected by dispute resolution. Lok Adalat is an
appropriate and well-known method of participatory justice in which people and judges
participate and resolve their disputes by discussion and mutual consent.

The Lok Adalat works as an additional and complementary arm for existing judicial system.
Judiciary through the activist approach has tried to revive the old strategy of conciliation in the
form of Lok Adalat for amicable settlement of dispute. It may justifiably be said that the concept
of Lok Adalat is the brain child of necessity of Indian Judicial system. 7 It is a judgeinspired,
judge-induced, judge-aided and judge guided strategy which can easily be understood and
appreciated by the people.8 Basically, this strategy aims at providing quick and cheap and
efficacious justice along with reducing the backlog of cases pending in courts, with an idea that
in future they prefer the settlement even before the institution of cases in courts. The whole
functioning is based on the free and mutual consent of the parties to dispute and persistent
persuading pursuits of judiciary, social organisations and voluntary organisations.9

Generally, a Lok Adalat is inagurated by senior judicial officer. The audience at a Lok Adalat
usually include local officers, members of Bar, disputants, law students and people from nearby
places. The members participating in justice process through Lok Adalats are called, generally,
conciliators, who are usually drawn from amongst serving or retired judicial officers,
7
http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/alt_dis.pdf
8
Prabha Bhargava,Lok Adalat Justice at Door Steps INA Shree Publishers
9
http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/lok_a.htm

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advocates/law teachers and social workers.10 These conciliators try to arrive at a fair settlement
between the parties. Besides of the conciliators, the other persons presented in the Lok Adalat
proceeding, also strive to convince the parties to settle the dispute. For this purpose, they actively
participate in the discussions with the conciliators and the parties.

The Lok Adalat system does not produce any hurdle in the working of ordinary courts. Because
the date and place of holding a Lok Adalat are fixed about a month in advance, generally, a
Saturday or Sunday or some other holiday with the objective that the work of regular court may
not suffer due to holding of Lok Adalat. Lok Adalat is a people oriented and people’s
participatory forum.11 The people must participate in working of a Lok Adalat. So, the
information about the holding of Lok Adalat is given wide publicity through press, posters and,
where possible, through radio, television and cinema slides. Therefore, Lok Adalat represents
itself as a participatory justice system where not only judges and lawyers but also a common man
can participate in the process of dispensation of justice.

Wide Jurisdiction o f Lok Adalat

The Lok Adalat system is basically meant for the resolution of people’s disputes that are pending
in the courts or which have not reached the court, through conciliatory techniques and voluntary
actions.12 In this sense, it has the widest possible jurisdiction to deal with any matter, whatever be
its legal character and in whatever court it might be pending or falling within its jurisdiction,
including the highest court. But, the Lok Adalat has no jurisdiction in respect of the
noncompoundable criminal cases under any law. Thus, the serious crimes are kept outside the
ambit of Lok Adalat.13 Generally, the Lok Adalats settle the disputes concerning mutuation of
land, encroachment on forest lands, family or matrimonial disputes, land acquisition disputes,
cases relating to insurance, bank loan cases, labour disputes, dishonour of cheque cases, revenue
cases, motor vehicles accidental claims cases, and compundable criminal cases, etc. For the
selection of cases fit for reference to Lok Adalat, no fixed criteria or rules have so far been laid
down by the authorities concerned. However, judges are competent enough and well-equipped to
examine the cases in which the compromise is possible. Such kinds of cases are referred to Lok

10
http://www.careerride.com/view/lok-adalats-advantages-and-disadvantages-26001.aspx
11
Ibid 15
12
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/4937/8/08_chapter%202.pdf
13
http://monthlyarticle.blogspot.in/2009/12/lok-adalat.html

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Adalat by the courts. So, the Lok Adalat has wide jurisdiction to settle the all kinds of disputes
except the dispute related to non-compoundable offences.

Function of lok adalat and permanent lok adalat

Before the passing of the Legal Services Authorities Act, the peculiar feature of Lok Adalat was
that it had neither uniformity in structure nor in its procedure. The procedure followed by these
Lok Adalats was different in different states as they were sponsored, patronised, financed and
guided by Legal Aid Boards and Legal Aid Committees of respective States. Moreover, the
organization of Lok Adalat was quite flexible and informal. The Lok Adalat was consisted of
two or three persons, one of them might be a retired judge or senior retired civil servant or an
advocate or a law teacher, and others were social workers and eminent persons of the locality.
These were carefully chosen by the Legal Aid Committee on the basis of their record of public
service, honesty and respectability among local population.14

Now, the Lok Adalats are organised by various authorities and committees at such intervals and
places and areas under their jurisdiction as they think fit.15 A Lok Adalat is consisted of serving
or retired judicial officers and other reputed persons, usually, a lawyer and a social worker. The
procedure, before the Act, followed by Lok Adalats was informal and varied as the nature of the
problems and the culture of the community of the disputants. There could be variation in
approaches and procedures depending upon whether the place is urban, rural or tribal and
whether the dispute pertain to property, personal relation or public administration. In terms of
procedure in the Lok Adalats, there was no set pattern. Now a days, the Lok Adalats are not
bound to follow the strict applications of procedural laws, particularly, the Civil Procedure Code
and the Evidence Act. The Lok Adalat is empowered to specify its own procedure for
determination of any dispute coming before it. The Lok Adalats are always flexible with regard
to the rules and procedure because the parties come to their own term with little assistance here
and there, and they are able to reach a particular decision if they consider it to be just and
acceptable. The Lok Adalat method is quite inexpensive. It discards the unnecessarily imposes
financial burden on the disputants.16 It assists the poor people to get prompt and speedy justice at
the local level and affords opportunity to have easy access to the Lok Adalat. In this system one
need not approach the advocates who are an unavoidable feature in Law Court. He even need not
14
http://www.srdlawnotes.com/2017/03/difference-between-permanent-lok-adalat.html
15
Ibid 12
16
http://nalsa.gov.in/content/permanent-lok-adalat

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get the plaint drawn up. The Lok Adalat may take into consideration an oral submission made by
the party before it. One is also saved of the expensive and the trouble, he has to take in getting
the summons served on the opposite parties. The disputants are saved of the complications of law
and legal technicalities and cumbersome procedures adopted at various stages of litigations by
the regular Courts, in respect of the framing of the issue of the disputes, producing witnesses,
pleadings and arguments putforth by the advocates before the courts and the final judgment and
eventually execution of the decree awarded by the judge. The idea behind the entire concept of
Lok Adalat is that it should enlighten the outlook of the disputant and inculcate in them a spirit
of “forgive and forget” and enable them to look to their social problem from a new angle of
vision and changed attitude of life.

Therefore, in the Lok Adalat, there is no strict application of cumbersome procedural laws like
Civil Procedure Code, Criminal Procedure Code and the Evidence Law. The procedure is simple,
quick, flexible, informal and devoid of all technicalities and baffling formalities but moulded in
consonance with the exigencies of the situation. Its noncontroversial or non-adverial tendency
has some degree of uniformity in approach and methods in order to ensure the fairness and
justice. Its informal procedure conformity only to the requirements of principles of natural
justice, when the key note is justice rather than law. The procedure and working of the system is
also modified in accordance with the local needs of disputants. However, the Lok Adalats are
bound to follow the principles of justice, equity, fair play and other legal principles.17

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 compulsory pre-litigative mechanism
for conciliation and settlement of cases relating to Public Utility Services like transport, postal,
telegraph etc. Here, even if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat
gets jurisdiction to decide the dispute, provided, the dispute does not relate to any offence.
Further, the Award of the Permanent Lok Adalat is final and binding on all the parties. The
jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalats is upto Rs. Ten Lakhs. Here if the parties fail to reach
to a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat has the jurisdiction to decide the case. The award of
the Permanent Lok Adalat is final and binding upon the parties. The Lok Adalat may conduct the
proceedings in such a manner as it considers appropriate, taking into account the circumstances
17
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/26666/9/09_chapter%203.pdf

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of the case, wishes of the parties like requests to hear oral statements, speedy settlement of
dispute etc.18

JURISDICTION OF LOK ADALAT AND PERMANENT LOK ADALAT

Lok Adalat (people's courts), established by the government of India to settle disputes through
conciliation and compromise. The first Lok Adalat was held in Chennai in 1986. Lok adalats
18
http://thelegiteye.in/2017/02/06/%E2%80%8Blok-adalat-or-rok-adalat/

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accept cases which could be settled conciliation and compromise, pending in regular courts
within their jurisdiction.

A Lok Adalat shall have jurisdiction to determine and to arrive at a compromise or settlement
between the parties to a dispute in respect of:
(i) any case pending before; or
(ii) any matter which is falling within the jurisdiction of, and is not brought before,
any court for which the Lok Adalat is organised.
The Lok Adalat can compromise and settle even criminal cases, which are compoundable under
the relevant laws.

ORGANISATION OF LOK ADALAT:

The State Authority and District Authority, Supreme Court Legal Services Committee,
High Court Legal Services Committee and Taluk Legal Services Committee (mentioned in
Section 19 of the Act) can organize Lok Adalats at such intervals and Permanent Lok Adalat
as may be deemed fit.
Every Lok Adalat so organized shall consist of:
a) Serving or retired judicial officers,
b) Other persons, as may be specified.

The experience and qualification of “other persons” in a Lok Adalat conducted by Supreme
Court Legal Services Committee shall be prescribed by the Central Government in consultation
with the Chief Justice of India. At present, Rule 13 of the National Legal Services Authorities
Rules, 1995 prescribes such experience and qualifications as:

a) A member of the legal profession; or

b) A person of repute who is specially interested in the implementation of the
Legal Services Schemes and Programmes; or
c) An eminent social worker who is engaged in the upliftment of weaker sections
of people, including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women, children,
rural and urban labour.
The experience and qualification of “other persons” mentioned in clause (b) shall be prescribed
by the State Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of High Court.

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COGNIZANCE OF PENDING CASES AND DETERMINATION:

A. On Application:

 When all the parties to the case agree for referring the case to Lok Adalat, or
 When one of the party to the case makes an application to court, praying to refer the
case to Lok Adalat and the court is prima facie satisfied that there are chances for
settlement

B. Suo Moto:

 Where the court is satisfied that the matter is an appropriate one to be taken cognizance
of, by the Lok Adalat, then the court shall refer the case to the Lok Adalat, after giving
a reasonable opportunity for hearing to all the parties. Further, the Authority or
Committee organising Lok Adalat may, on application from any party to a dispute,
refer the said dispute to Lok Adalat, after giving a reasonable opportunity for hearing
to all the parties.
 Lok Adalat shall proceed to dispose of a case refereed to it expeditiously. It shall be
guided by principles of law, justice, equity and fair Permanent Lok Adalaty. It shall
yearn to reach a settlement or compromise between parties.
 When no compromise or settlement is accomplished, the case is to be returned to the
court which referred it. Then the case will proceed in the court from the stage
immediately before the reference.

PASSING OF THE AWARD:

 Every award of Lok Adalat shall be deemed to be a decree of a civil court.

 Every award shall be signed by all the parties to the dispute and the panel constituting
the Lok Adalat.

 Every award shall form part of the judicial records.

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  Every award shall be categorical and lucid.

 Every award shall be in the regional language or in English.

 A certified copy of the award will be given free of cost, to all the parties.

 Every award made by Lok Adalat shall be final and binding on all the parties to the
dispute, and no appeal shall lie to any court against the award.

 If a pending case is settled at Lok Adalat, any court fee already paid will be refunded
as provided by the Court Fees Act, 1870.

POWERS OF LOK ADALAT

i) The Lok Adalat shall have the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil
Procedure, 1908, while trying a suit, in respect of the following matters:-

a) Power to summon and enforce the attendance of any witness and to examine
him/her on oath.
b) Power to enforce the discovery and production of any document.
c) Power to receive evidence on affidavits,
d) Power for requisitioning of any public record or document or copy thereof or from
any court.

e) Such other matters as may be prescribed.

ii) Every Lok Adalat shall have the power to specify its own procedure for the
determination of any dispute coming before it.

iii) All proceedings before a Lok Adalat shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within
the meaning of Sections 193, 219 and 228 of IPC.

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iv) Every Lok Adalat shall be deemed to be a Civil Court for the purpose of Sec 195 and
Chapter XXVI of Cr.P.C.

MERITS AND DEMERITS OF LOK ADALAT

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Merits of lok adalat19

(i) 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.

a. 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”

b. 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.

(ii) Justice At No Cost: - Lok Adalat is the only institutionalized mechanism of dispute
resolution in which the parties do not have to bear any expenses.
a. 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.

(iii)Solving Problems Of Backlog Cases: - 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.

(iv)Maintenance Of Cordial Relations: - The main thrust of Lok Adalats is on

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 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.
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.

Demerits20

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 Lok Adalat 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 Lok Adalat.

2. Not all cases are suitable for lok adalat jurisdiction. Lok adalat 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 lok adalat. 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.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOK ADALAT AND PARMANENET LOK ADALAT

20
Ibid 25

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1.Permanent Lok-Adalat is Permanent, It is permanent in nature.21

Lok-Adalat is temporary in nature.

2.Any Party to a dispute may make an application to the Permanent Lok-Adalat for settlement of
the dispute before the dispute is brought before any Court.

In Lok-Adalat, there is no such Condition like Permanent Adalat.

3.Permanent Adalat has jurisdiction in respect of one or more public utility services as defined in
clause (b) of Section 22A. [Legal services Authority (Amendment) Act, 2002]

A Lok-Adalat has Jurisdiction to determine and 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 lok-Adalat is organized. However, The Lok-Adalat has no Jurisdiction in respect of
any case relating to an offence which is not compoundable under any law.

4.Jurisdiction of Permanent Lok-Adalat is limited to the matter where the value of the Property
in dispute does not exceed ten lakh rupees. This limit may be increased by the central
Government in consultation with the Central Authority.

In case of the Lok-Adalat there is no such limitation .

Lok Adalts are usually conducted on special occasions to dispose of cases .Now on every second
Saturday lok Adalat are conducted on different type of cases. But only few judicial officers try to
settle the score between litigants. Mostly the cases which are already settled in routine forward to
lok Adalts for final pronouncement. Don t hesitate to write it is wastage of time and money and
to befool the system. Only regular presiding officers along with two members one from
Advocate and one from society preside the lol Adalts.

21
What is the difference between Lok adalats and permanent Lok adalats? Available at
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-Lok-adalats-and-permanent-Lok-adalats visited on
21/04/2018.

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On other hand Permanent lok Adalts are enacted under State legal services . One retired session
judge along with two members who are retired from different departments. Only few civil type
matters can be referred to Permanant lok Adalt . Like consumers forms process is simple and
without court fees. Courts are opened 10 to 5 on each n every working days . But shortage of
staff and ignorance of people PLA are not much popular.

CONCLUSION

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The draw backs of judicial system shakes the confidence of the people in its capacity and
capability adequate and timely relief. Therefore, to tackle this situation, the Alternative Dispute
Resolution (ADR) mechanism has been introduced to achieve the objects such as (i) to enhance
the people's involvement in the justice delivery process; (ii) to relieve the court congestion as
well as undue cost and delay, and (iii) to facilitate access to justice. ADR refers to a set of
practices and techniques to settle the dispute outside the courts. The major methods of ADR are
arbitration, conciliation, mediation, negotiation and Lok Adalats as supplement to the formal
court system. Under Sec. 89 of CPC, the court is also empowered to refer the case for settlement
either to (i) arbitration, or (ii) conciliation, or (iii) Judicial settlement including the settlement
through Lok Adalat, or (iv) mediation. Lok Adalat is a significant forum in the hierarchy of
various ADR methods where justice is dispensed summarily without too much emphasis on legal
technicalities.

Lok Adalat means people's court which solves the disputes of parties by discussion, counselling,
persuation and conciliation so that it gives speedy and cheaper justice with the free and mutual
consent of the parties. The institution of Lok Adalat is not the substitute of existing judicial
system but only works as supplementary to it so that mounting arrears are reduced and quick
justice is provided. It is a participatory justice mechanism in which judges, lawyers, social
workers law teachers and disputants altogether settle the dispute in friendly atmosphere and in
this way, they further the unity and integrity of society. Professor Upendra Baxi, on the basis of
nature of the Lok Adalat institution, has stated about two type of functions which it must perform
to justify its role as a best supplement to regular courts. These functions may be divided into two
categories, viz., (i) manifest functions which may be specified as: (a) conflict resolution, (b)
dispensation of justice, (c) Ombudsman type function, (d) legal aid and services, (e) legislative
innovation, (f) public record, (g) marital counselling, and (h) initiation of social change or
development function, and (ii) latent functions and dysfunctions. Latent functions may be called
as observable consequences which are neither intended nor recognised by the challenge elites.
The aim of latent function is to be corrective in nature so as to improve the working efficiency of
Lok Adalat. They provide a working efficiency and help in accelerating the speed of rendering
justice to the needy, rising above the legal complexities created by law courts.

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Lok Adalat system is a medicine in litigating with hardly any adverse effects. In fact, apart from
easy accessibility, quicker and cheaper justice, the chief beauty of Lok-Adalat is the decimation
of bitterness, because compromise is the very soul of the Lok-Adalat justice.144 It is based on
the spirit of equality, justice and rule of law enshrined our National Charter with a view to
improving the prevailing judicial system with functional process and promotion of justice
through law.

Hence, the study reveals that the Lok Adalat system is people oriented and people supported
mechanism which has received wide support from different sections of the society. Due to, its
features, it has not only resulted in lessening the workload of our regular courts but has also
provided efficacious justice to those who cannot afford to fight the costly legal battle for the
assertion and protection of their rights under the prevailing justice delivery mechanism.
Therefore, the forum of Lok Adalat deserves to be strengthened, developed for preventing
litigation, ending the pending litigation and ultimately forming the Lok Adalat a peace-making
and peacekeeping institution so that it may play a significant role in development of country.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY SOURCES

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 i. CASE LAW
ii. The Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (26 of 1996)

BOOKS
i. Paranjape, Dr. N. V. Law Relating to Arbitration & Conciliation in India, Allahabad:
Central Law Agency, 2016
ii. Malhotra, O.P. The Law & Practice of Arbitration And Conciliation Lexis Nexis: Second
edition (2006)
iii. Saharay, Madhusudan Textbook on Arbitration & Conciliation with Alternative Dispute
Resolution, Universal Law Publishing - An imprint of Lexis Nexis; Fourth edition (2017)

WEBSITES
 http://kelsa.nic.in/lokadalat.htm
 http://www.adrcentre.in/images/pdfs/LOK_ADALATS_IN_H.P.-%20Final.pdf
 A.Khan,Lok Adalat, 1st Edition (2006), APH Corporation
 http://jurisonline.in/?p=21380
 http://www.academia.edu/3296008/Lok_Adalat_System_in_India
 Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987;
 http://www.adrcentre.in/images/pdfs/LOK_ADALAT_FINAL_PAPER.pdf
 http://www.settlementnegotiation.org/adr/
 Subhash Chandra Gupta, OMBUDSMAN : AN INDIAN PERSPECTIVE ,1995
MANAK PUBLICATIONS
 http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/alt_dis.pdf
 Prabha Bhargava,Lok Adalat Justice at Door Steps INA Shree Publishers
 http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/lok_a.htm
 http://www.careerride.com/view/lok-adalats-advantages-and-disadvantages-26001.aspx
 http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/4937/8/08_chapter%202.pdf
 http://monthlyarticle.blogspot.in/2009/12/lok-adalat.html
 http://www.srdlawnotes.com/2017/03/difference-between-permanent-lok-adalat.html
 http://nalsa.gov.in/content/permanent-lok-adalat
 http://thelegiteye.in/2017/02/06/%E2%80%8Blok-adalat-or-rok-adalat/

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