SCOPE OF LOK ADALAT IN INDIA
BY- GUNEET KAMBOJ
INTRODUCTION
NALSA along with other legal services institutions conducts Lok Adalat. Lok Adalat is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms, it is a forum where dispute cases of civil nature are pending in the court of law or at the prelitigation stage are settled or compromised amicably. Lok Adalat has been given statutory status under the legal services authority act 1987.
Under the act, the decision made by Lok Adalat is deemed to be the decree of a civil court and is final and binding on all parties and no more appeal is allowed against such an award lies before any court of law. If the parties are not satisfied with the decision of Lok Adalat, then they do not have any right to go against the decision of Lok Adalat, but they are free to initiate litigation by approaching the court of appropriate jurisdiction by filing a case through following the required procedure, in the exercise of the right to litigate.
There is no court fee to start a hearing in Lok Adalat. If the matter pending in the court of law is referred to the Lok Adalat and it is settled subsequently, the court fee that was originally paid in the court on the petition filed by the person has also been refunded back to them. The person deciding the cases in the Lok Adalat is known as the member of Lok Adalat, they have the role of statutory conciliators only and do not have any judicial role, therefore they can persuade parties to conclude for settling the dispute outside the court in Lok Adalat and shall not dominate or pressurize any of the party to compromise or settle cases or matters either directly or indirectly. The Lok Adalat shall not decide the matter so referred at its own instance, instead the same would be decided on the basis of the compromise or settlement between the parties. The members shall assist the parties in all matters without any impartial and improper manner to reach an amicable settlement of their dispute in a fair procedure.
Scope of Lok Adalat in India
The scope of Lok Adalat is very wide, as per section 18(1) of the act, 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:
1) Any case pending before the court
2) Any matter which is falling within the jurisdiction of the court and is not brought before any court for which the Lok Adalat is not organized.
As per as law develops for the working of Lok Adalat, it doesn’t have any jurisdiction regarding the handling of the case related to divorce or matters relating to an offence not compoundable under any law.
The resources and achievements of Lok Adalat can only expect gratitude in return, they must devote time for the cause of social justice and dedicate their service in return for its success, Lok Adalat is generally organised in the premises of the courts. Lok Adalat can work as a really good substitute for setting cases that are pending in superior courts. Encouraged by the response that Lok Adalat has been receiving at the district level.
The Lok Adalat has also been organized even for the cases pending in the supreme court. Lok Adalats are known as people’s festival of justice because settlements are not always necessarily according to legal principles settlements have an eye mainly on:
A. social goals like ending quarrels.
B. restoring family peace.
C. providing succour for destitute
.
The basic philosophy behind the Lok Adalat is to resolve the people’s dispute by discussion. Counselling, persuasion, and conciliation so that it gives speedy and cheap justice, mutual and free consent of the parties. It is a party’s justice in which people and judges participate and resolve their disputes by discussion and mutual consent.
Conclusion
The scope of Lok Adalat is very wide, as the number of civil cases is increasing daily and without increasing the number of judges it is really important to the government is to do some changes in the working of the judiciary as the workload is increasing at a fast pace on the judges and due to that several cases are still pending. As people are still not aware of Lok Adalat the government has to spread the information regarding it and also judges can inform and convince the parties to solve the dispute in Lok Adalat so that pressure of the pending cases has been decreased on courts. Also, Lok Adalat is facing the problem of the frequency of sitting as Adalat meets on fixed dates and places. It is generally seen that hundred of cases are settled in a single sitting of Lok Adalat. So, increasing the frequency of Lok Adalat is the topmost priority, so that it provides a great ecosystem of justice and dispute redressals.
References:
https://brainly.in
https://www.lawoctopus.com