Powers of Lok Adalat

February 17, 2023

This article has been written by Pallavi Chaudhary,a student studying LL.B from Amity University, Noida in 4^th semester of 3^rd year program.

INTRODUCTION

The Gandhian ideals serve as the foundation for the concept Lok Adalat, which means “people’s court.” It is a part of the ADR system and strives to provide informal, quick, and affordable justice to the general public. Conflicts were resolved in the past by negotiation, mediation, and arbitration by the panchayats of the villages. This institution has only contributed to the development of the Lok Adalat philosophy. The first Lok Adalat was held in 1982,in Gujarat and it gradually extended throughout the entire nation

The Legal Services Authorities Act of 1987 granted the Lok Adalat legal status. The Lok Adalat’s primary duty is to offer the public high-quality, free legal services, as well as assistance with peaceful dispute resolution. As rightly stated by Justice Ramaswamy ‘’Resolving conflicts through Lok Adalat not only eliminates litigation expenditure, it also saves significant time for the parties and their witnesses and provides affordable and timely remedy adequately to the satisfaction of both parties’’. Lok Adalat’s assist the Indian judicial system by settling matters in no time helps in preventing the judicial system from being overburdened.

Chapter 6^th of the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 deals with the provisions related to Lok Adalat. The chapter is divided into 4 sections, numbered 19 through 22.

Section 19 addresses the establishment of Lok Adalat i.e. Every State Authority, District Authority, Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, High Court Legal Services Committee, or Taluk Legal Services Committee, depending on the circumstance, may organize Lok Adalat’s at such intervals and locations, for exercising such jurisdiction and for such areas, as it thinks fit. Every Lok Adalat organized for an area must include the minimum number of

(a) serving or retired judges; and

(b) other individuals, as determined by the State Authority, the District Authority, or the Supreme Court Legal

The jurisdiction of the Lok Adalat is stated in section 19(5): “A Lok Adalat shall have jurisdiction to decide and to arrive at a compromise or settlement between the parties to a dispute in respect of—

any case pending before; or
any matter which is within the jurisdiction of, and is not brought before, any Court for which the Lok Adalat is organized.

The provision further states that the Lok Adalat’s cannot try crimes that are not compoundable law. The Lok Adalat can try matters which are related to family conflicts invasion of woodland areas, disputes over land acquisition, vehicle accident claim etc.

According to section 21, the award of the Lok Adalat is a civil court’s decree and is therefore binding on the parties.

POWERS OF LOK ADALAT

Section 22 of the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 states Powers of Lok Adalat or Permanent Lok Adalat. The section read as:

The Lok Adalat or Permanent Lok Adalat shall, for the purposes of holding any determination under this Act, have the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) while trying a suit in respect of the following matters, namely: –

the summoning and enforcing the attendance of any witness and examining him on oath;
the discovery and production of any document;
the reception of evidence on affidavits;
the requisitioning of any public record or document or copy of such record or document from any court or office; and
such other matters as may be prescribed.
Lok Adalat or Permanent Lok Adalat shall have the requisite powers to specify its own procedure for the determination of any dispute coming before it.
All proceedings before a Lok Adalat or Permanent Lok Adalat shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings.

The following are the benefits along with powers of the Lok Adalat:

If the case is resolved at Lok Adalat, there is no court cost and all court fees already paid will be returned. In other words, the cost is lower.
The flexibility of the dispute resolution process and its quickness are the cornerstones of Lok Adalat.
While evaluating Lok Adalat’s claim, procedural requirements like the Evidence Act and the Civil Procedure Code are not strictly followed.
Without concern for being revealed in front of any legal authorities, parties are free to debate their differences of opinion.
In contrast to traditional courts of law, the parties to the dispute are able to communicate directly with the judge through their attorneys.

CASE LAWS

The High Court stated in Punjab National Bank v. Lakshmi Chand Rai that “An appeal would not lie under the provisions of Section 96 C.P.C. and that the provisions of the Act shall prevail in the subject of filing an appeal. Once the award has been made by Lok Adalat, the right of appeal shall be governed by the provisions of the Legal Services Authorities Act, and section21(2),states no appeal may be filed against the award under Section 96 C.P.C.
The High Court of Andhra Pradesh held in Board of Trustees of the Port of Visakhapatnam v. Presiding Office that the award is enforceable as a decree and it is final.

CONCLUSION

Speedy justice and peaceful resolution are made possible through Lok Adalat. Both time and money are saved. In addition to acting as a supplement to the traditional legal system, it promotes the people to resolve disputes outside of the formal framework. The Lok Adalat system also provides access to justice which is one of the Directive Principles Of State Policy mentioned under Article 39A of the Constitution of India.

REFRENCES

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February 17, 2023