LOK ADALAT (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Polity)

Context: Lok Adalat can- not entertain any applications where judicial orders are required as proceedings before it are not judicial, the Kalaburagi bench of Karnataka High Court recently ruled.

Lok Adalat

• Meaning: In literal meaning, it is ‘People’s Court’. It is a forum where the cases (or disputes) which are pending in a court or which are at pre-litigation stage (not yet brought before a court) are compromised or settled amicably.
• Principle: This system is based on Gandhian principles. 
• A type of: Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system.
• First Lok Adalat camp: Organised in Gujarat in 1982.
• Statutory Status: By the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.
• Output/Result of the proceeding: Settlement and hence no victory and no defeat and, thus, no enmity.
• Member: Chairman and two members for providing a compulsory pre-litigative mechanism for conciliation and settlement of cases relating to Public Utility Services like transport, postal, telegraph etc.
• Jurisdiction: Lok Adalats can deal with cases pending before a court and also with disputes at the pre-litigation stage.

oThe offences which are non-compoundable under any law fall outside the purview of the Lok Adalat.

o

Advantages of Lok Adalats (ADR) Mechanism:

• Less Time Consuming.
• Cost effective method. 
• It is free from technicalities of courts.
• People are free to express themselves without any fear of court of law. 
• Efficient way to prevent conflict and restore relationship between parties.
• It preserves the best interest of the parties.