What is Lok Adalat?

About Lok Adalat:

• It is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms in India. 
• It is a forum where disputes/cases pending inthe court of law or at the pre-litigation stageare settled/compromised amicably. 
• The Lok Adalat has been given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. 
• Lok Adalats can be organized at the district, state, and national levels.
  • The State/District Legal Services Authority or the Supreme Court/High Court/Taluk Legal Services Committee may organise Lok Adalat at such intervals and places and for exercising such jurisdiction and in such areas as it thinks fit.
• Every Lok Adalat organised for an area shall consist of such number of serving or retired judicial officers and other persons of the area as may be specified by the agency organizing.
  • Generally, a Lok Adalat consists of a judicial officer as the chairman and a lawyer (advocate) and a social worker as members.
• Under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, Lok Adalat can make awards/decisions, which are deemed to be a decree of a civil court and are final and binding on all the parties concerned. 
  • If the parties are not satisfied with the award of the Lok Adalat, there is no provision for an appeal against such an award, however, the partiesconcernedcan initiate litigation by approaching the court of the appropriate jurisdiction by filing a case.
• There is no court fee payablewhen a matter is filed in a Lok Adalat.
• If a matter pending in the court of law is referred to the Lok Adalat and is settled subsequently, the court fee originally paid in the court on the complaints/petition is also refunded back to the parties. 
• Dispute resolution in the Lok Adalat courts takes place by direct interaction of the Adalat members with the parties concerned. 
• Lok Adalats possess jurisdictionover a diverse array of cases, including civil disputes, criminal cases (compoundable offences), and family matters.
• Nature of cases to be referred to Lok Adalat
  • Any case pending before any court
  • Any dispute which has not been brought before any court and is likely to be filed before the court
  • Provided that any matter relating to an offence not compoundable under the law shall not be settled in Lok Adalat.
• Permanent Lok Adalat:
  • The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, was amended in 2002 to provide for the establishment of the Permanent Lok Adalats to deal with cases pertaining to public utility services like transport, postal, telegraph, etc. 
  • These have been set up as permanent bodies and consists of a Chairman and two members
  • It shall not have jurisdiction in respect of any matter relating to an offence not compoundable under any law. 
  • The jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalats is upto Rs. 1 Crore.
  • Before the dispute is brought before any court, any party to the dispute may make an application to the Permanent Lok Adalat for settlement of the dispute. 
  • After an application is made to the Permanent Lok Adalat, no party to that application shall invoke the jurisdiction of any court in the same dispute.
  • Every award made by the Permanent Lok Adalat shall be final and binding on all the parties thereto and shall be made by a majority of the persons constituting the Permanent Lok Adalat.

Q1: What are non-compoundable offenses?

Compoundable offences are minor crimes where the victim can agree to drop charges through compromise. Non-compoundable offences are serious crimes that can’t be settled and require full trials for justice.

Source: Supreme Court to organise special Lok Adalat for amicable settlements of pending cases