Lok Adaat Case Study

India has a long tradition and history for resolving disputes and matters of the society at grass root level with the involvement of the village elders. The Lok Adalat is said to have been evolved from such similar dispute resolution mechanisms such as the Gram Panchayat. "Lok" stands for "people" and in Hindi, the term "Adalat" means the “court”. Hence, it is a 'People’s Court' albeit it is strictly not a court in the conventional sense in as much as the Lok Adalat does not adjudge on facts by application of law. The first Lok Adalat was held on March 14, 1982 in Gujarat. The idea of Lok Adalat was mainly promoted by Justice P.N. Bhagwati, an ex- Chief Justice of India. It is a medium wherein the disputes between the parties are resolved

Secondly, it may be lengthily said that Lok Adalat is an ADR mechanism operating on native lines where the ADR neutral known as the Lok Adalat – “Judge” plays an evaluative and reminiscent role and steers the disputant parties towards a negotiated mutually acceptable settlement. The whole emphasis in Lok Adalat proceedings is on conciliation rather than adjudication. These are presided over by retired judges, social activists, or other members of the legal profession. The institution of Lok Adalats had been functioning as a voluntary and conciliatory agency without any statutory backing for its decisions and had become very popular in providing for a speedier system of administration of justice. This demand for affording statutory recognition to Lok Adalats and the keenness to transform into reality the salutary objective and mandate of Article 39A of the Constitution of India culminated in to the enactment of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. One of the purposes of starting Lok Adalat camps was to upgrade the judicial system, while simultaneously affording an accessible forum for prompt and economical resolution of disputes to the litigants.

Hence, it was believed to have a need for providing a statutory basis and framework for this institution of Lok Adalat. One of the objectives of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 is to provide for

Thomas vs. Thomas Job, (2005) 6 SCC 478, Lok Adalat, its benefits, Award and its finality has been widely discussed by the Supreme Court. Thus, the award of the Lok Adalat is fictionally deemed to be a decree of court and therefore the courts have all the powers in relation thereto as it has in relation to a decree passed by itself. This includes the powers to extend time in appropriate cases. The award passed by the Lok Adalat is the decision of the court itself though arrived at by the simpler method of conciliation unlike that of the process of arguments in court and involving a Counsel.

It is useful to refer the judgment of the Supreme Court in State of Punjab & Anr. vs. Jalour Singh and Ors. (2008) 2 SCC 660

“The ratio that decision was that the “award” of the Lok Adalat does not mean any independent verdict or opinion arrived at by any decision making process. The making of the award is merely an administrative act of incorporating the terms of settlement or compromise agreed by the parties in the presence of the Lok Adalat, in the form of an executable order under the signature and seal of the Lok Adalat.” This judgment was followed in B.P. Moideen Sevamandir and Anr. vs. A.M. Kutty Hassan (2009) 2 SCC