The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), under the guidance of its Executive Chairman Justice U.U. Lalit, will be organizing the Second National Lok Adalat of 2021 on July 10. Over the course of this year, two more National Lok Adalats will be organized on September 11 and on December 11.
While the National Lok Adalat will be held on July 10 in 33 SLSAs/HCLSCs, Kerala has advanced it a day ahead on July 9. Apart from Kerala, Maharashtra, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Karnataka have postponed it in their respective areas to August 1, July 18, and August 14 respectively.
The First National Lok Adalat of this year was organized on April 10 in 22 states and union territories where over 9.7 lakh cases were taken up, of which 2.3 lakh cases were pre-litigation cases and more than 7.3 lakh cases were pending cases. More than 4.8 lakh cases were disposed of wherein cases worth over Rs 2440 crore were settled. The details are as follows:
A total 2,38,249 pre-litigation cases were taken up and 65,407 cases disposed of, settling conflicts amounting to Rs 142,31,69,609. The pending cases taken up were 7,37,235, and 4,19,082 were disposed of and settlement amount was Rs 2300,02,07,765.
A preparatory national-level webinar was organized by the National Legal Services Authority on “National Lok Adalat: Challenges and way forward” which was conceptualized with the aim to sensitize all the Chairpersons and Secretaries of District Legal Services Authorities in order to ensure the smooth and proper functioning of the upcoming National Lok Adalat. All Executive Chairpersons of State Legal Services Authorities, Chairpersons of High Court Legal Services Committees, and Ld. Member Secretaries of SLSAs and Chairpersons and Secretaries, DLSAs, and Judicial Officers attended the webinar.
A preparatory national-level webinar was organized by the National Legal Services Authority on “National Lok Adalat: Challenges and way forward” which was conceptualized with the aim to sensitize all the Chairpersons and Secretaries of District Legal Services Authorities in order to ensure the smooth and proper functioning of the upcoming National Lok Adalat. All Executive Chairpersons of State Legal Services Authorities, Chairpersons of High Court Legal Services Committees, and Ld. Member Secretaries of SLSAs and Chairpersons and Secretaries, DLSAs, and Judicial Officers attended the webinar.
In wake of the pandemic, the upcoming national Lok Adalat will be organized through virtual and hybrid mode after the observance of the covid protocols of respective States. NALSA has instructed the SLSAs/HCLSCs to follow the following directions for the upcoming National Lok Adalat:
- Identify suitable number of cases wherein element of settlement is prevalent, to be taken up in the National Lok Adalat.
- Issue notices to parties at the earliest through virtual e-services mode or physical mode whichever is possible for the National Lok Adalat.
- To have meetings with all the concerned stakeholders including members of the Bar, representatives of insurance companies, representatives of banks and financial institutions, etc.
- In order to have maximum settlement between the parties in cases like MACT, matrimonial, cheque bounce cases under NI Act, labour disputes, PUS, other civil cases, etc., it is advised to conduct pre-Lok Adalat sittings or pre-counselling sessions well before the National Lok Adalat so that the parties may get one or more chances for entering into dialogue with opposite parties to get maximum number of settlements.
- In case, parties arrive at the settlement through pre-Lok Adalat sittings and pre-counselling, then, the settlement may be recorded at the same time.
- Also, to observe COVID-19 protocol prevalent in the States/UTs as per the guidelines issued by the Government of India as well as State Governments.
Against all odds and despite the continuing pandemic, the Legal Services Authorities organized two National Lok Adalats in the year 2020, wherein over 12.6 Lakh pre-litigation and more than 12.8 Lakh pending cases were amicably settled. The details are as follows:
The total pre-litigation cases taken up were 60,36,006 and 1264935 were disposed of amounting to Rs 22,06,25,27,593. The pending cases taken up were 51,15,168 of which 12,83,433 were disposed of, settling a total Rs 57,97,56,54,840.
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The Legal Services Authorities also swiftly adapted to Online Dispute Resolution mechanisms and introduced E-Lok Adalats in the month of June 2020. E-Lok Adalats have received significant responses from the general public as the parties can participate from their home/workplace. Till now, 25 SLSAs/HCLSCs have organized E-Lok Adalats and the same are to be incrementally introduced in other States. Over 4.42 lakh cases have been disposed of in the same. The details are as follows:
The total pre-litigation cases taken up were 60,36,006, disposed of 12,64,935 and the settlement amount was Rs 22,06,25,27,593. The pending cases taken up were 51,15,168, disposed of 12,83,433 and the settlement amount was Rs 57,97,56,54,840.