Concept & Functioning Of e-Lok Adalat

Introduction:

The coronavirus pandemic might have constrained every possible thing but everything has its pros and cons, even after certain restrictions thousands of things went so smooth and easy and so the idea of e- World was adapted. “E” is nothing but an abbreviation of electronics. And something which is done through the internet is what “e” represents. 

Now, what is Lok Adalat, and from where it has been Originated?

Lok Adalat is nothing but a People’s Court, one of the Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms in India. A passage to speedy justice, a trailblazing contribution to Indian Jurisprudence, a perfect instrument to resolve the intensified burden from the judiciary regarding case settlement. It is based on Gandhian principles. Dispute through mediation, negotiation, or arbitration has been conceptualized in the philosophy of Lok Adalat and it involves people who are directly or indirectly affected by the dispute resolution. For the very first time, it was held in Gujarat in the year 1982 and now it has been extended throughout the world. It has been given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

What types of cases can be addressed in Lok Adalat?

This Alternative Dispute Resolution mainly deals with all the pending cases in regular courts under their jurisdiction or any case which haven’t brought in court yet but probably has to be filed, these kinds of cases can be addressed over here but the only mandatory condition is that both the parties must agree for the settlement. Lok Adalats are very effective in the settlement of money claims, disputes like partition suits, damages, mutation of lands case, bonded labor cases, bank’s unpaid loan cases, and matrimonial cases (related to marriages), as the scope for accommodation through an approach of give and take is high in these cases. A Lok Adalat can take up civil cases related to marriages and family and also compoundable criminal cases.[1]

Does Lok Adalat have any levels or compositions?

Yes, Lok Adalat has been bifurcated into 4 levels i.e. State Authority Level, High Court Level, and District Level, Taluk Level.

State Authority Level: Now the question arises who will be composing the bench, The Member Secretary of the State Legal Services Authority who will organize the Lok Adalat will form the benches and that bench should comprise a sitting or retired judge of the High Court or sitting or retired judicial officer, and a member either from the legal profession or a social worker engaged in the betterment of the weaker sections and interested in the execution of legal services schemes or programs, or both of them.

High Court Level: The same question arises for High Court Level, whether the formation of bench will remain the same or not, here the Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee would form the benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench must have a sitting or retired judge of the High Court and a member either from the legal profession, or a social worker engaged in the betterment of the weaker sections and interested in the execution of legal services schemes or programs, or both of them.

District Level: Here the Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority organizing the Lok Adalat would form the benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench must have a sitting or retired judicial officer, and a member either from the legal profession or a social worker engaged in the betterment of the weaker sections and interested in the execution of legal services schemes or programs or a person engaged in para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman, or both of them.

Taluk Level: Here the Secretary of the Taluk Legal Services Committee organizing the Lok Adalat would form the benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench should comprise a sitting or retired judicial officer and a member either from the legal profession or a social worker engaged in the betterment of the weaker sections and interested in the execution of legal services schemes or programs or a person engaged in para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman, or both of them.

Composition of Lok Adalat

Now the composition of Lok Adalat has also grouped into three i.e. National Lok Adalat, Permanent Lok Adalat, and Mobile Lok Adalat.

National Lok Adalat: On the same day Lok Adalat is organized all over the country at a regular interval of time, from the Supreme Court to Taluk Level wherein the cases are disposed of in huge numbers. And from February 2015, each month Lok Adalat takes place with the specific subject matter.  

Permanent Lok Adalat: Permanent Lok Adalat organized under Section 22-B of The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. It has been set up with the permanent bodies which comprise a Chairman and two members for providing a compulsory pre-litigation mechanism for conciliation and settlement of cases relating to Public Utility Services like transport, postal, telegraph, etc. If parties fail to reach a settlement then they can further address their issues here in the Permanent Lok Adalat, it too has jurisdiction to resolve the dispute. The jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalats is now up to Rs.1 crore. Whereas decision i.e. termed as Award in Permanent Lok Adalat is binding and final upon the parties, this cannot be changed. 

Mobile Lok Adalat: The Lok Adalats which travel from one place to another within the country to resolve disputes in order to facilitate the mechanism of Alternative Dispute Resolution. In the year 2015, more than 15.14 lakhs Lok Adalats have been organized in the country since its establishment and more than 8.25 crore cases have been settled by this mechanism to date.[2]

Introduction to e-Lok Adalat

Nothing has changed over here, it’s just the proceedings are taking place virtually through WhatsApp and video calls, with the same procedure just to amid COVID 19 cases. Since the world is facing a COVID19 outbreak which is spreading rapidly and can’t even be presumed that when it will end. Therefore adopting the digital world became a need. Courts were shut because of lockdown and cases were increasing, the economy went down and people started facing problems related to money, the cases regarding money claim, partition claims, matrimonial and family disputes, domestic violence, bank’s unpaid loan cases, etc started increasing. So in this peak time, on 11 July 2020 Chhattisgarh was the first-ever state which took an initiative towards E-Lok Adalat.

Justice P R Ramachandra Menon, Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court inaugurated the first-ever “E” session of the Lok Adalat. Around 195 benches were formed at different places including Sarguja, Kanker, Bastar, Surajpur, etc. The cases recorded all over India from January to March 2020 were approx. 10639 from which 8700 has been settled.

Also, the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) on 8th August 2020 organized the e-Lok Adalat to facilitate mediation between the parties, who are willing to get their matters settled peacefully, in all the District Courts Complexes of Delhi.

In this Adalat, the cases which were resolved were Motor Accident and Claims Tribunal (MACT) disputes, civil recovery matters, and cases of Electricity Act which took the technical support from SAMA, an Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform recognized by the Department of Justice for resolving disputes through video conferencing. In the E- Adalat, SAMA used to send an online link to the parties, and to the judge who’ll be conducting the session, following the settlement, an OTP would be sent to them and on the confirmation, the dispute would be settled. In Saturday’s Lok Adalat, 77 benches were formed and 5838 were disposed of concerning various categories with the settlement amount of approx. Rs 46.28 crores. Out of which 612 cases of MACT were settled with the approx. settlement amount Rs. 36.69 crores and 4183 cases related to cheque bounce were too settled.[3]

Pros of e-Lok Adalat

1. No court fee
2. Not mandatory to appoint lawyers, you can yourself stand on your behalf
3. Speedy Justice and Convenient
4. Unburdening of Courts and reducing the excess of cases
5. Maintenance of Cordial Relations (since the main drive is to compromise and not a punishment)
6. Optimum utilization of time
7. Maximum number of cases are being resolved.

Cons of e- Lok Adalat

1. Lack of Criminal Jurisdiction, petty crimes like theft, or other small crimes must be brought down here within the purview of Lok Adalats.
2. Virtual hearing should also follow some formal rules and regulations, like in few cases, a lawyer was in a vest and justice Dhavan was smoking hookah, this should be restrained and the online proceedings must follow the same methodology as offline.

Conclusion

Lok Adalats have become an integral part of the Indian legal system and plays an important role in speedy justice, it has helped in bridging the gap and also under burdened the judiciary. E- Lok Adalat is just a trial in today’s era but in the COVID Outbreak, this trailblazing contribution has settled the cases so smoothly and speedily via the internet. And helped in utilizing the time in the best possible way keeping justice in the mind but it still have certain areas of improvement which could increase their efficiency even more and in the future after more improvisations, this idea of E- Lok Adalat can be implemented too because at the end of the day we are seeking speedy justice along with adaption of technology.

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References:

[1] Lok Adalat. (2020, September 1). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lok_Adalat

[2] Lok Adalat. (2019, February 26). Nalsa.Gov.In. https://nalsa.gov.in/lok-adalat

[3] Lok Adalat held online. (2020, August 10). Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/lok-adalat-held-online/story-6HtKmag2TJDKwAPJkYkm2L.html