What is Lok Adalat?

Lok Adalats are extempore Courts created as per the requirement of the people of a particular area. Camps of Lok Adalat were started initially in Gujarat in March 1982 and now they have 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. The reason to create such camps was only to dispose of the pending cases and to give relief to the litigants who were in a queue to get justice. The seekers of justice are in millions and it is becoming rather difficult for the Courts to cope up with the ever-increasing cases with the present infrastructure and manpower. Lok Adalats are organized with financial assistance by the government and monitored by the judiciary. Lok Adalats have set Conciliation process in motion in India. In Lok Adalat, voluntary efforts are aimed at bringing about settlement of disputes between the parties through conciliatory and persuasive efforts, and provide speedy and inexpensive justice. Members of Lok Adalats act as Conciliators. Lok Adalats have assumed statutory recognition under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

Section 19 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 provides for organisation of Lok Adalats. The section lays down that every State Authority or District Authority or the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee or every High Court Legal Services Committee or, as the case may be, Taluk Legal Services Committee may organise Lok Adalats at such intervals and places and for exercising such jurisdiction and for such areas as it thinks fit.

The section further provides that every Lok Adalat organised for an area shall consist of such number of-

(a) serving or retired judicial officers; and

(b) other persons,

 of the area as may be specified by the State Authority or the District Authority or the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee or the High Court Legal Services Committee, or as the case may be, the Taluk Legal Services Committee, organising such Lok Adalat.

Sub-section (5) of section 19 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 lays down that 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:

Provided that the Lok Adalat shall have no jurisdiction in respect of any case or matter relating to an offence not compoundable under any law.

Section 21 of the Legal Services Authorities Act lays down that every award of the Lok Adalat shall be deemed to be a decree of a civil court or, as the case may be, an order of any other court and where a compromise or settlement has been arrived at, by a Lok Adalat in a case referred to it under section 20(1), the court-fee paid in such case shall be refunded in the manner provided under the Court Fees Act, 1870.

Every award made by a 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.