• Over one crore disputes were settled in the third National Lok Adalat of this year, the National Legal Services Authority said.

• National Lok Adalat is held at regular intervals. On a single day, Lok Adalats are held throughout the country in all courts, wherein cases are disposed of in huge numbers. 

• Lok Adalat not only provides an efficient substitute to seek redressal but significantly helps in reducing the burden of the courts pertaining to backlog and pendency of cases.

• Of the disputes settled on August 13, more than 75 lakh were pre-litigation cases and 25 lakh pending cases. 

• The third National Lok Adalat was held in all states and Union Territories, except Delhi where it will be held on August 21.

National Legal Services Authority (NALSA)

• The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 to monitor and evaluate implementation of legal aid programmes and to lay down policies and principles for making legal services available under the Act.

• In every state, a State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) and in every High Court, a High Court Legal Services Committee has been constituted. District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs), Taluk Legal Services Committees have been constituted in the districts and most of the taluks to give effect to the policies and directions of the NALSA and to provide free legal services to the people and conduct Lok Adalats in the state. 

• Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC) has been constituted to administer and implement legal services related to the Supreme Court of India.

Functions of NALSA

• NALSA lays down policies, principles, guidelines and frames effective and economical schemes for the State Legal Services Authorities to implement  legal services programmes throughout the country.

• Primarily, the State Legal Services Authorities, District Legal Services Authorities, Taluk Legal Services Committees, etc have been tasked to discharge the following functions:

1) To provide free and competent legal services to the eligible persons covered under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

2) To organise Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes. 

3) To organise legal awareness camps in the rural areas.

Lok Adalats

• In order to facilitate alternative methods of dispute resolution, NALSA conducts Lok Adalats. It is a forum where disputes/cases pending in the court of law or at the pre-litigation stage are settled/compromised amicably. 

• Lok Adalats have been given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Under the said Act, the award (decision) made by the Lok Adalats is deemed to be a decree of a civil court and is final and binding on all parties and no appeal lies against such an award before any court of law.

Types of Lok Adalats: 

1) Regular Lok Adalats are organised by the Legal Services Authorities/Committees as per the convenience/discretion of the state/district authorities, for settlement of both pre-litigation and post-litigation cases.

2) National Lok Adalats are conducted quarterly for settlement of cases (both pre-litigation and post-litigation) in all the courts from the Supreme Court of India to the taluk courts on a single day.

3) Permanent Lok Adalats are permanent establishments set up in most of the districts to provide compulsory pre-litigative mechanism for settlement of disputes related to public utility services.

• Mobile Lok Adalats are also organised in various parts of the country,  which travel from one location to another to resolve disputes in order to facilitate the resolution of disputes through this mechanism.

• Lok Adalats have also moved to the virtual platform due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Highlights of 3rd National Lok Adalat of 2022

• To ensure a cordial organisation of Lok Adalat throughout the country, Chief Justice of India-designate and executive chairman of NALSA Justice U.U. Lalit interacted with the State Legal Services Authorities to keep track of the progress of the developments, giving his invaluable contribution to the success of the Lok Adalat.

• Rajasthan and Maharashtra became the first states to use end-to-end digital platforms during the third National Lok Adalat of the year.

• With this major initiative, Digital Lok Adalat has become a reality and another objective of NALSA to implement a cost-effective and time-saving mechanism of dispute resolution for the affected parties is successfully achieved.

• The State Legal Services Authorities of Rajasthan and Maharashtra in a technology partnership with Jupitice Justice Technologies launched the Digital Lok Adalat in the respective states as part of the third National Lok Adalat of 2022. 

• Digital Lok Adalat means all the events or tasks from the filing of the case at the litigant level to award generation held online. The litigant gets the choice to refer the case for Lok Adalat online and the acts that physically consume time have been done away with. 

• This Lok Adalat witnessed a historic moment wherein a criminal appeal was resolved through video conferencing. The matter was presented before the Division Bench No-24 of Presiding Officer Ankita Tigga. In this case, one of the accused had died and the applicant had also died. The legal heir of the deceased applicant, his daughter, who was currently residing in Scotland, was interrogated through video conferencing after which the case was closed on the basis of an amicable settlement. 

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store