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“An Analysis of the functioning of Lok Adalats in the Eastern Region of India”
A Comparative Report
A Report By:
Mr. Loknath Mohapatra
Dr. Rangin Pallav Tripathy
Mr. Badri Narayan Nanda
Mr. Satya Prakash Raychoudhury
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This report on Performance Evaluation and Promotion Schemes of Judicial Offices in

India is pursuant to the research project on “An Analysis of the functioning of Lok
Adalats in the Eastern Region of India” funded by the Department of Justice, Ministry
of Law and Justice, Government of India and implemented by Odisha Judicial
Academy in association with National Law University Odisha.
We would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following in preparation and

finalisation of the report;
1. Dr. Suvendu Kumar Pati

2. Ms. Priyanka Anand
3. Mr. Gaurav Rai
4. Mr. Akash
5. Mr. Jayanto Chakraborty
Loknath Mohapatra is the Director of Odisha Judicial Academy.
Rangin Pallav Tripathy is an Assistant Professor of Law at National Law University Odisha
Badri Narayan Nanda is the Deputy Director of Odisha Judicial Academy
Satya Prakash Raychoudhury is the Assistant Director of Odisha Judicial Academy
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Table of Figures ................................................................................................................................ 6

Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 8
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 15
History and Evolution of Lok Adalats ........................................................................................ 20
History of Lok Adalats .............................................................................................................. 23
Lok- Adalats in Ancient Period................................................................................................ 25
Kinds of Lok Adalat In Ancient India ..................................................................................... 28
Lok Adalat in Medieval Period ................................................................................................ 31
Position of Lok Adalats In Muslim Rule................................................................................. 32
Judicial Procedure in Lok Adalats During Muslim Period .................................................. 33
Lok Adalat in British Period ..................................................................................................... 34
Position of Lok Adalat In British Rule .................................................................................... 35
Impact of British Rule on Lok Adalats .................................................................................... 37
Lok Adalat in Post Independence Period ...................................................................................... 39
Revival of Nyaya Panchayat..................................................................................................... 40
Legislation Regarding Lok Adalats ......................................................................................... 46
Need for Lok Adalat .................................................................................................................. 47
Hierarchy of Various Authorities Created Under The Act .................................................. 51
Organization of Lok Adalats .................................................................................................... 52
Procedure of Lok Adalat ........................................................................................................... 53
Analysis of the Policies Concerning Organising of Lok Adalats ............................................ 60
Policy Regarding Infrastructure of State Legal Services Authorities ................................. 61
Comparative Overview of Policies in Different States ..................................................... 62
Policy in Odisha ..................................................................................................................... 62
Policy in Bihar......................................................................................................................... 64
Policy in Jharkhand................................................................................................................ 66
Policy in West Bengal ............................................................................................................ 68
Policy Regarding Types of Lok Adalats ................................................................................. 69
Comparative Overview of Policies in Different States ..................................................... 70
Policy in Odisha ..................................................................................................................... 71
Policy in Bihar......................................................................................................................... 71
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Policy Regarding Frequency of Lok Adalats.......................................................................... 72
Comparative Overview of Policies in Different States .............................................................. 74
Policy in Odisha ..................................................................................................................... 74
Policy in Bihar......................................................................................................................... 74
Policy Regarding Preparation of Calendars ........................................................................... 75
Policy in Odisha ..................................................................................................................... 76
Policy in Bihar......................................................................................................................... 76
Policy Regarding Referring Cases to Lok Adalats ................................................................ 77
Policy in Odisha ..................................................................................................................... 79
Policy in Bihar......................................................................................................................... 79
Policy Regarding Involvement of Additional Personnel ..................................................... 81
Policy in Odisha ..................................................................................................................... 82
Policy in Bihar......................................................................................................................... 82
Policy Regarding Quantitative Weight age for Lok Adalat work ....................................... 83
Policy in Odisha ..................................................................................................................... 85
Policy in Bihar......................................................................................................................... 85
Policy Regarding Additional Incentives for Lok Adalat Work ........................................... 86
Policy in Odisha ..................................................................................................................... 88
Policy in Bihar......................................................................................................................... 89
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Policy Regarding Administrative Support ............................................................................. 90
Policy in Odisha ..................................................................................................................... 92
Policy in Bihar......................................................................................................................... 94
Analysis of Disposal Records ....................................................................................................... 98
Nature of Disposal Records Received from Odisha.............................................................. 99
Analysis of Disposal Records Received from Odisha ......................................................... 101
Nature of Disposal Records Received from Bihar ............................................................... 111
Analysis of Disposal Records Received from Bihar ............................................................ 112
Nature of Disposal Records Received from Jharkhand ...................................................... 112
Analysis of Disposal Records Received from Jharkhand ................................................... 114
Nature of Disposal Records Received from West Bengal .................................................. 117
Analysis of Disposal Records Received from West Bengal................................................ 119
Critical Impressions from Disposal Records ........................................................................ 125
Feedback from Stakeholders ...................................................................................................... 126
Jharkhand .................................................................................................................................. 128
Bihar ........................................................................................................................................... 139
Odisha ........................................................................................................................................ 149
West Bengal............................................................................................................................... 160
Critical Impressions from the Feedback ............................................................................... 169
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 171
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Table of Figures
Figure 1 Odisha Lok Adalat Disposal Records 2012 ................................................................... 102
Figure 5 Proportion of Criminal Compoundable Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha.. 104
Figure 6 Proportion of Revenue Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha .............................. 105
Figure 7 Proportion of Consumer Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals- Odisha ............................ 106
Figure 8 Proportion of MACT/MACA Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha .................. 106
Figure 9 Proportion of Matrimonial Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha........................ 107
Figure 10 Proportion of Labour Dispute Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha ................ 107
Figure 11 Proportion of Other Civil Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha ........................ 108
Figure 12 Proportion of O.J.C/W.P.(C) Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha .................. 108
Figure 13 Proportion of Land Acquisition Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha ............. 109
Figure 14 Proportion of Bank Recovery Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha ................. 109
Figure 15 Proportion of BSNL Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha ................................. 110
Figure 16 Proportion of Other Civil Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha ........................ 110
Figure 17 Proportion of Disposals Through Permanent Lok Adalats - Odisha ...................... 111
Figure 18 Jharkhand Lok Adalat Disposal Records 2012 ........................................................... 115
Figure 22 Proportion of Different Categories of Cases- Jharkhand .......................................... 117
Figure 23 West Bengal Lok Adalat Disposal Records 2012 ........................................................ 119
Figure 27 Proportion of Criminal Compoundable Cases - West Bengal.................................. 121
Figure 28 Proportion of MACT Cases - West Bengal .................................................................. 122
Figure 29 Proportion of Bank Recovery Cases - West Bengal ................................................... 122
Figure 30 Proportion of Labour Disputes - West Bengal............................................................ 123
Figure 31 Proportion of Civil Cases - West Bengal ..................................................................... 123
Figure 32 Proportion of NI Act Cases - West Bengal .................................................................. 124
Figure 33 Proportion of Land Acquisition Cases - West Bengal ............................................... 124
Figure 34 Regularity of Involvement in Lok Adalats- Jharkhand............................................. 128
Figure 35 Preparatory Time for Lok Adalat- Jharkhand ............................................................ 129
Figure 36 Efficacy of the Existing System of Process Servers- Jharkhand ............................... 130
Figure 37 Introduction of Technological Tools to Serve Summons and Notices- Jharkhand131
Figure 38 Adequacy of Weightage for Lok Adalat Disposals- Jharkhand ............................... 132
Figure 39 Increasing Weightage of Lok Adalat Disposals- Jharkhand..................................... 133
Figure 40 Adequacy of Administrative Support- Jharkhand .................................................... 134
Figure 41 Regularity of Involvement in Lok Adalats- Bihar...................................................... 139
Figure 42 Adequacy of Time to Prepare for Lok Adalats- Bihar ............................................... 140
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Figure 43 Efficacy of the Existing System of Process Servers- Bihar ........................................ 141
Figure 44 Introduction of Technological Tools to Serve Summons and Notices- Bihar ........ 142
Figure 45 Adequacy of Weightage for Lok Adalat Disposals- Bihar ........................................ 143
Figure 46 Increasing Weightage of Lok Adalat Disposals- Bihar.............................................. 144
Figure 47 Adequacy of Administrative Support- Bihar ............................................................. 145
Figure 48 Regularity of Involvement in Lok Adalats- Odisha .................................................. 149
Figure 49 Adequacy of Time to Prepare for Lok Adalats- Odisha............................................ 150
Figure 50 Efficacy of the Existing System of Process Servers- Odisha ..................................... 151
Figure 51 Introduction of Technological Tools to Serve Summons and Notices- Odisha ..... 152
Figure 52 Adequacy of Weightage for Lok Adalat Disposals- Odisha .................................... 153
Figure 53 Increasing Weightage of Lok Adalat Disposals- Odisha .......................................... 154
Figure 54 Adequacy of Administrative Support- Odisha .......................................................... 155
Figure 55 Regularity of Involvement in Lok Adalats- West Bengal ......................................... 161
Figure 56 Adequacy of Time to Prepare for Lok Adalats- West Bengal .................................. 162
Figure 57 Efficacy of the Existing System of Process Servers- West Bengal ............................ 163
Figure 58 Introduction of Technological Tools to Serve Summons and Notices- West Bengal
............................................................................................................................................................ 164
Figure 59 Adequacy of Weightage for Lok Adalat Disposals- West Bengal ........................... 165
Figure 60 Increasing Weightage of Lok Adalat Disposals- West Bengal ................................. 166
Figure 61 Adequacy of Administrative Support- West Bengal ................................................. 167
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Executive Summary
Purpose of Study
This study is an analysis of the functioning of the Lok Adalats in the Eastern Region
of India. The prevalent state of affairs as regards to the functioning of the Lok
Adalats in the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar have been studied
and analyzed. Key issues such as staff, infrastructure, policies, training and disposal
etc were taken into consideration in the research in order to achieve the objectives set
out at the beginning. This project funded by the Department of Justice, Ministry of
Law and Justice, Government of India and implemented by Odisha Judicial
Academy assisted by National Law University, Odisha.
At this point it would be prudent to lay out that this is not a report card or a
parameter to determine or compare the working of the various legal services
authorities at the National, State, District and Taluk Level. The legal services
authorities have many other assignments other than the Lok Adalats and this study
is to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the Lok Adalats by analyzing the
disposals figures, identifying the challenges and suggesting reforms which emerge
from the research. Lok Adalats is a great way of alternative dispute resolution and if
done effectively then can reduce the burden of backlog of cases to a great extent.
This study aims to find out the best practices in each state and suggest reforms in the
others accordingly.
The Objectives in the research were:
1. To study the prevalent state of affairs as regards to the functioning of Lok
Adalats in the eastern region of India
2. To scrutinize the performance of Lok Adalats in terms of statistical
parameters to have a more comprehensive understanding of the structural
capacities and deficiencies.
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3. To identify the issues and factors which are impeding a more efficient
functioning of the Lok Adalats
4. To identify the reformative measures through which the functioning of the
Lok Adalats can be made more efficient.
The disposal figures, infrastructure and policies etc in the following states of Eastern
India was taken into consideration:
West
Odisha Jharkhand Bihar
Bengal
Research Methodology
The research methodology comprised of both empirical and doctrinal analysis. The
doctrinal aspect comprises of the comparative analysis of the manner in which Lok
Adalats are being organized in different states. It also includes the analysis of the
cases disposed off through Lok Adalats in the identified states from 01.07.2012 to
01.07.2015 in order to have a better understanding of the patterns of disposal. The
empirical analysis comprises of the analysis of the problems and issues in
conducting Lok Adalats from the data collected by the research team through online
surveys.
In view of the above objectives and in accordance to the research methodology the
following activities were undertaken by the research team.
1. A comparative analysis of the prevalent practices in the identified
States in terms of organizing Lok Adalats.
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2. A statistical analysis of all the cases disposed of in the identified

States during a three year period to have a better understanding of
the structural capacities and deficiencies.
3. Collection of primary data through surveys with different
stakeholders like officials of SLSAs, DLSAs, TLSAs, judges,
4. Identification of the barriers and obstacles which are impeding a
more efficient functioning of the Lok Adalats.
5. Identification of the reformative measures which can facilitate a
more efficient and purposeful functioning of the Lok Adalats.
The first chapter of the report explains the history, importance and
functioning of the Lok Adalats. In second part the methodology adopted for the
research, other factors and parameters have been discussed. It establishes the
structural parameters under which analysis has been conducted and the sources
from which data has been procured for the analysis.
The second chapter in the report is titled ‗Analysis of Policies concerning

Organizing of Lok Adalats‘. This chapter deals with a comparative analysis of the
policies guiding the organizing of Lok Adalats. The existing policies in the different
states are analyzed and the prevailing best practices in relation are identified in
relation to the following aspects;
1. Policy Regarding Infrastructure of State Legal Services Authorities

2. Policy Regarding Types of Lok Adalats
3. Policy Regarding Frequency of Lok Adalats
4. Policy Regarding Preparation of Calendars
5. Policy Regarding Referring Cases to Lok Adalats
6. Policy Regarding Involvement of Additional Personnel
7. Policy Regarding Quantitative Weightage for Lok Adalat Work
8. Policy Regarding Additional Incentives for Lok Adalat Work
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9. Policy Regarding Administrative Support
The third chapter is titled ―Analysis of the Disposal Records‖ and primarily
examines the disposal records from the respective State Legal Services Authorities
for the period starting on 01.07.2012 and ending on 31.07.2015. The purpose of the
analysis was to have a better understanding of the patterns of disposals in the
respective states. The disposal records were sought in the following format;
1. District wise, Case Type wise and Month wise Record

2. District wise, Case Type wise and Year wise Record
3. State wise, Case Type wise and Month wise Record
4. State wise, Case Type wise and Year wise Record
The fourth chapter is titled ―Analysis of the Feedback received from stake
holders‖. The purpose of this feedback was to examine the existing policies and to
seek suggestions on the possible reforms that can be implemented. Thus, the
questionnaire was designated for the serving judicial officers in the identified states
and for the functionaries of legal services authorities so as to have an insight into the
challenges and shortcomings of the existing policies. The questionnaire was
designed and administered by the research team in the online as well as in offline
form.
The chapter titled ‗Conclusions and Recommendations‘ is the final chapter

wherein all the recommendations and suggestions have been made in order to
facilitate a more efficient and purposeful functioning of the Lok Adalats.
Apart from the above chapters we have also prepared state specific reports.
Preparation of such reports were felt necessary and would be useful in addressing
the issues of each state individually and would result in better understanding and
usefulness of report.
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Structure of the State Specific Reports
In addition to comparative report, a specific report for each state has been prepared.
The recommendations in relation to a state are usually identified with reference to
the prevailing best practice in other states. The recommendations are incorporated
organically after an elaboration of the existing policy in a state in relation to a
specific aspect of the analysis. At the end of each state specific report, the list of
recommendations is provided in a summarized manner.
Key Highlights of the Research Report
Comparison of Existing Policies
Identification of Best Practices
Identification of Challenges in
Implemention of Existing Policies
Specific Recommendations for

Each State
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Introduction
The Courts of India in the recent times have been over burdened with cases and are
currently grappling with shortages of judges and courts in all levels starting from the
lower to the higher forums. That apart, the litigants also have to bear the cost of
litigation which is quite high and litigation continues for years together without an
ending. Further the process is also cumbersome and procedural delays along with
the increasing number of cases mean justice getting delayed. Lok Adalats in such a
scenario have been a beacon of hope both for the litigants and the judges who are
burdened with alarming work load and cases. Lok Adalat or the People‘s Courts,
decide the dispute with utmost expedition to arrive at a compromise or settlement
on the basis of principles of justice, equity, fair play and other legal principles. When
the Lok Adalat is not able to arrive at a compromise or settlement, the record of the
case is returned to the Court, which initially referred the case to the Lok Adalats. In
this method over the years many petty cases along with other regular cases which
can be referred to the Lok Adalats have been disposed off. The finality of the award
is the best advantage of the system and often creates a win-win situation for all.
However like every system, this system also has some issues such as lack of
infrastructure, unclear policies, inadequate administrative support, etc which prove
to be a hindrance to disposal of cases. The idea of Lok Adalats is unique and is very
effective but much more can be achieved if certain changes are made in the system.
There has been lack of comprehensive field research in relation to the functioning of
the Lok Adalats in India. The current research deals with two critical aspects
concerning the functioning of Lok Adalats;
6. To identify the reformative measures through which the functioning of the
Lok Adalats can be made more efficient.
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The broad objectives in the research were as following

1. To study the prevalent state of affairs as regards to the functioning of
Lok Adalats in the eastern region of India
2. To scrutinize the performance of Lok Adalats in terms of statistical
parameters to have a more comprehensive understanding of the
structural capacities and deficiencies.
4. To identify the reformative measures through which the functioning of
the Lok Adalats can be made more efficient.
Comparative Framework for Analysis of Functioning of Lok Adalats in the

Eastern Region of India
For the purposes of this research, the existing policies, disposal figures in four states
were analysed.
Table 1- List of Identified States
West
Odisha Jharkhand Bihar
Bengal
The assessment of existing system of Lok Adalats in the identified states focuses on
the following primary perspectives;
1. Analysis of the Various Policies Concerning Lok Adalats

2. Analysis of Disposal Records
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3. Feedback from Stakeholders

This report seeks to cover the following aspects;
1. An assessment of the structural arrangements concerning the organizing of

Lok Adalats in the identified States.
2. An analysis of the performance of the Lok Adalats in terms of statistical
parameters.
3. An assessment of the challenges and barriers in the identified States which are
impeding a more efficient functioning of Lok Adalats.
4. Identification of the reformative measures to strengthen the efficiency of the
Lok Adalat mechanism determined after a broad-based consultative process
with all the concerned stakeholders.
The information in the nature of the prevailing official policies in each state was
sourced from the respective Legal Aid Authorities in each state. Apart from verbal
and telephonic clarifications and some visits to the respective legal aid authorities,
the core analysis in this report is based on the official policies shared with us in the
form of the documents or data collected from them through surveys and visits;
Odisha:
1. Letter dated 09/01/2017 from Member Secretary, OSLSA regarding circulars

and notifications relevant to Lok Adalat since its inception.
2. Letter dated 09/01/2017 from Member Secretary , OSLSA on policies and
practices followed in Lok Adalats with:
a. Two books
i. Handbook on Lok Adalat
ii. Handbook on Permanent Lok Adalat
b. Two Letters of NALSA for reference regarding disposal of pre
litigation and pending cases.
Bihar:
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1. Letter dated 15/12/2016 from Member Secretary, BSLSA regarding policies

and practices.
2. Mail dated 23/11/2016 from Member Secretary, BSLSA regarding data on
Lok Adalats.
3. Letter dated 23/11/2016 from Member Secretary, BSLSA regarding data On
Lok Adalats.
4. Mail dated 19/12/2017 answering the queries on different aspects of Lok
Adalats.
5. Mail dated 07/02/2018 on different DSLSA‘s in their state with phone
numbers.
Jharkhand:
1. Letter dated 25/11/2016 from Member Secretary, JHALSA regarding Data on

Lok Adalats.
2. Letter dated 13/12/2017 from Member Secretary, JHALSA regarding policies
and practices.
3. Mail dated 22/02/2018 from Jamshedpur, DLSA regarding the survey.
4. Mail dated 23/02/2018 from JHALSA regarding the survey.
5. Mail dated 23/02/2018 from Jamtra, DSLSA regarding the survey.
6. Mail dated 23/02/2018 from Ranchi, DLSA regarding the survey.
7. Mail dated 23/02/2018 from Dhanbad, DLSA regarding the survey.
8. Mail dated 23/02/2018 from Hazaribag, DLSA regarding the survey.
9. Mail dated 23/02/2018 from Khunti, DLSA regarding the survey.
10. Mail dated 23/02/2018 from Ramgarh, DLSA regarding the survey.
11. Mail dated 23/02/2018 from Ranchi, DLSA regarding the survey.
West Bengal:
1. Letter dated 23/11/2016 from Member Secretary, WBSLSA regarding data on

Lok Adalats.
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2. Mail dated 08/03/2018 with answers of the queries on different aspects of

Lok Adalats.
3. Mail dated 09/03/2018 with answers of the queries on different aspects of
Lok Adalats.
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History and Evolution of Lok Adalats
In the year 1959, the then Union Law Minister gave a statement on the floor of the
Parliament saying that small disputes must be left to be decided by the system of
Panchayat Justice the People‘s Courts or institutions like Lok Adalat. The relevant
part of the statement as mentioned above is quoted as under:
“There is no doubt that the system of justice which obtained today is

too expensive' for the common man. The small disputes must necessarily be
left to be decided by a system of panchayat justice call it people's Court, call
it popular Court call it anything but it would be certainly subject to such
safeguards as we may desire in the village level that the common man can be
assured of a system of judicial administration which would not be too
expensive for him and which would not be too dilatory for him”1
The term ‘Lok-Adalat’ in other words can be called as ‗People’s Court’. "Lok" in the
local parlance means ―people" and "Adalat " means ―Court‖. Therefore, in other
words, Lok Adalat is a court for the people or rather for the benefit of people. It is a
means of addressing grievances and delivering speedy justice. Lok Adalats have
minimal similarities with the conventional judicial mechanism. Basically, the
procedural and formal requisites of regular courts are done away with, and the
unnecessary clutter are washed out and replaced with flexibility and permanency in
settlement of the dispute and this makes the Lok Adalat more people friendly. Lok-
Adalat is a system of alternative dispute resolution which finds its origin in India
and got established as a system with the changing times. India has the history of
1
Rajya Sabha. DEB, 1959 Vol. 27, No. 3, Col 388, p.71 - 72
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resolving disputes through the intervention, conciliation, mediation and counselling

by village elders and gentries popularly known as the ―panch‖ or ―panch parmeswar‖.
This system though effective was vulnerable to various maladies. Therefore
renovating and augmenting it with a guided system was a great achievement in the
legal history of India.
The modern idea of Lok-Adalat was mainly proposed and implemented by Justice
P.N. Bhagwati, former Chief Justice of India. Lok-Adalat is a non-adversarial system
of dispute resolution, whereby courts (called Lok-Adalats) are organised by the
National Legal Services Authority, State Legal Services Authority, District Legal
Services Authority, Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, High Court Legal
Services Committee and Taluk Legal Services Committee, as the case may be. These
Lok-Adalats are organised regularly on specified dates and have jurisdiction as per
law to take up suitable matters for disposal. The Hon‘ble Courts, Committees and
the respective State governments issue guidelines as and when necessary to regulate
the Lok-Adalats and make them more effective. The burdened courthouses have
become a place for arduous quest rather than being a journey of justice. The pain
and agony of protracted hearing, huge delay in disposal of cases and in many
instances continuation of the court cases from one generation to other has not only
decreased the faith of people in the Justice Delivery system but certainly has
prompted many of them to take recourse to unrecognised out of court settlement
and approach unauthorised agencies.
An effective justice delivery mechanism is pivotal for maintaining a proper social

order, peace, tranquillity and for overall progress of any country and India is no
exception. It is the primary duty of the State to ensure free, fair, equal and timely
justice for all by not only enacting Laws dealing with various subjects of individual,
social, political, economic and other relevant fields but also by establishing a free,
competent and empowered Judiciary to adjudicate those disputes that may crop up
either at individual level, group level or other macro levels. In order achieve the
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above goal, a potent judiciary should not only look at the age old court room based
adversarial system of dispute resolution but should also consider other effective
modes of alternative dispute resolution where both sides of the dispute end up in a
win-win situation without having to be troubled by any of the latches of the
traditional court based dispute resolution.
In quest of the above, the organisation of Lok Adalats has evolved as one of the most
important modes of alternative dispute resolution. The first Lok Adalat was
organised in 1982, in a village called ―Una‖, in Junagarh district of Gujarat. A fairly
modified model of the Lok Adalat system which continues till today, traces its roots
to Chennai, where first of such kind of modern Lok Adalat was organsied in the year
1986. The institution has developed, modified, adapted, and advanced in order to
provide speedy and equitable justice at door steps in a very cost effective manner.
The resolve of justice dispensation is that it is designed to enable the general public
to state their grievances against other citizens or state agencies, and successfully
arrive at a settlement which is not only permanent but mutually satisfactory.
Morality, honesty and the principles of free and fair trial are the high and lofty ideals
upon which this institution of Lok Adalat is founded.
The Lok Adalat was conceptualized due to the drawbacks of the Indian legal system
to provide efficient, effective, and low cost justice. The evolution of this concept was
a part of the plan to relieve the heavy burden on the Courts. The pendency of cases
are a bane to the judiciary, and to the people who come to the court in the dream of
getting justice. It is a well known fact that Justice Delayed, in effect, is Justice Denied.
This phrase is not wrong, what with over 8,000,000 cases flooding in various courts
and tribunals in the country at various stages, the main concern of judges and
appellate forums today is to speed up the judicial process. The reason that caused
the creation of such courts were only the huge number of pending cases, shortage of
judges and to give relief to the litigants who are suffering due to the delay. Each year
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the number of litigants increase and now courts are facing a losing battle the
drawbacks being their low strength of judges and infrastructure.
There is serious problem of overburdening of courts. To lessen the heavy burden on

the courts, it would be in the apt if the pendency can be reduced by the 'Alternative
Dispute Resolution' Methods before they enter the arena of Court.
Lok Adalats are a perfect mix of all three forms of traditional ADR: arbitration,
mediation, and conciliation. Conciliation is used, with help of arbitration with the
fact that decisions are binding, and are an example of legal decentralization as
disputes are returned to general public from where they are locally settled.
History of Lok Adalats
Lok Adalat has originated from an old form of Justice delivery system which was
prevalent since vedic times. In ancient India the disputes were settled on basis of
principles of honesty, fair play and moral character which is in core structure of
Indian culture and civilization. The said system was present in the ancient India at
the village level in name of People's Court or Popular Court or Panchayats. The
village Panchayats or People's Court, as an important and indispensable part of
justice delivery system, played a very important role in those times. The relevance
and functioning of this system has been discussed in the texts of Yajnavalkya, Narad,
Gautama, Kautilya Brihaspati, Manu and Bhrigu. Generally, these People's Court
was of three kinds namely Puga, Sreni and Kula.
During Vedic times, society was composed of ―patriarchal families‖. In those

families, the Grihapati (Head of Home) decided all disputes at the house
independently. Manu the ancient law promulgator empowered a Grihapati to
discipline a wife, a son, a servant, a pupil and a younger brother with a rope or the
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small shoot of a cane, when they committed any wrong2. So, in Ancient India, the
Grihapati was the junior most court for judicious decisions in his family whereas the
king of the country happened to be the foremost and supreme court for all civil and
criminal cases in his kingdom. The above enumeration shows the order of authority
commencing from the lower to the highest. If one fai1ed, the next in authority could
take up the matter and so on until the matter was taken up by the king himself.
During Muslim period in India, these people's court with different names as
panchayats continuously functioned with minor variations. Throughout the Muslim
rule there was no direct or systematic state control of the administration of justice in
the villages where most of India lived 3 . At that time, these panchayats were
empowered to dispense justice in all small civil and criminal matters in accordance
with the custom or usages of the locality, caste, trade or family. The Muslim rulers
traditionally enjoyed and occasionally exercised a general power of supervision over
all these popular courts. The procedure followed by these courts was quite simple,
systematic and informal. There was no regular administration of justice; no certain
means of filing a suit and fixed rules of proceeding after the suit had been filed 4.
These People's Court or Village Panchayats worked for a long time and existed even
at the time of commencement of the British rule in India.
The British frowned upon administering of justice through People's Courts or village
Panchayats and established their own courts to render justice in civil and criminal
matters. They modified the ancient Indian legal system according to their vested
interest with the result that the functioning of people's court died a slow death away
and became empty and suffocating with engulfing nothingness5. In this way, they
gave a death blow to the functioning of people's courts.
2
H.S Bhatia, Origin and Development of Legal and Political system in India (1976) 46 Volume I, and
M.K.Sharan, Court Procedure in Ancient India (1978) 17
3
Sen Gupta, Evolution of ancient Indian Law (1953) 112
4
U.C.Sarkar, Epoches in Hindu Legal History (1958) 250
5
P. Parameswaran, “ Dispensation of Justice: Problem of Cost, Quality and Delay,” AIR 1991 Journal 31
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Courts/ Judicial systems in Ancient Period similar to Lok- Adalats
In ancient India, in the Hindu judicial system, there were two sets of courts available
to the litigants:
(i) The courts which were directly under the authority of the State,
(ii) Courts which were of popular character constituted by the people
themselves either through local sabhas or panchayat or village councils
or even family or tribal councils6.
The different kinds of courts have been enumerated by various thinkers as Kautilya,
Manu, Narad, Yajnavalkya and Brihaspati, etc. But, there was a fundamental
distinction between the courts contemplated by Kautilya in his Arthasastra and
those conceived by Manu in his Dharmasastra. According to scheme of Kautilya, for
the administration of justice, king‘s courts were to be appointed in the Samgrahana
which meant a group of ten villages, the Dronamukha which meant a collection of
400 villages and the Sthaniya which meant the assemblage of 800 villages and also at
the meeting grounds of the districts. The Courts were to consist of those
Dharmasthas, i.e., men versed in the sacred law and three Amatyas, i.e. the ministers
of the king. But, he did not give much importance to popular courts. Manu, on the
other hand, continued the Sabha system which was found to have been in existence
from the Rigvedic times. According to the Manu Smriti, the king appointed a
Headman for each village and Headman for the groups of villages who shall try all
the cases. The later Dharmasastras of Narada, Yajnavalkya, Brihaspati and
Katyayana also followed the scheme of Manu. Besides of this courts system,
Brihaspati stated another classification of courts as Pratisthita, Apratisthita, Mudrita
and Sasita as above stated.
6
P.B. Mukerjee: “The Hindu Judicial System” in S.K.,(ed); The Cultural Heritage of India, (1969)439-440,
Volume II
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In the Vedic period, the constitution of the Hindu society was organized on the basis
of autonomous villages as its units. In this time, we come across some terms, such as
Sabha, Samiti and Parisad which were conceived more or less on the units of
villages. But, it was generally believed that the Sabha was a sort of village council
consisting of the assemblage of learned and respectable persons who contributed to
the national judicature. The judges were always helped by Sabha in the justice
delivery process as in modern world, the jury helps the court7. However, the Sabha
was not an outcome of the king‘s household but of the Vedic folk-assembly8.
Similarly, when we study Dharamastras and the Dharamasutràs, we find certain

terms of tribunals such as, Gana, Kula, Sreni, Puga, Vrata, etc. as discharging some
judicial functions along with the State Courts. The existence of these different kinds
of judicial tribunals indicates that perhaps the country hardly had any central
judicial structure. These courts encouraged the principle of self-government and
reduced the burden of central administration. They also helped the cause of justice.
The members of popular court or guild court had more or less reliable knowledge of
the facts in disputes because the parties belonged to their guild or locality. It was
difficult for a witness to come to a village court and tell a brand lie in the presence of
his compeers whose respect he will be thereby forfeiting9. The people's court knew
about the disputants, the witnesses and the facts of the dispute, so, it was easy for
them to decide the dispute speedily and effectively. Bhrigu also emphasizes about
the effective working of popular courts and states that there were ten tribunals
common to all men, viz.,
(i) the village people,
(ii) the assembly of the citizens of the capital,
(iii) gana,
(iv) sreni,
7
K. Jayawal, Hindu Polity (1967) 311
8
K. Jayawal, Hindu Polity (1967) 317
9
A.S. Alterkar, State and Government in Ancient India (1977) 254
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(v) men learned in the four vedas,

(vi) vargins,
(vii) kulas,
(viii) kulikas,
(ix) judges appointed by the king, and
(x) the king himself.
According to him, there did exist a peculiar judicial system for the dissolution of
disputes amongst the people. The people living in forest used to get their disputes
settled by foresters, members of caravans by other members, soldiers by a tribunal of
soldiers and those who stayed in the village as well as in the forest could get their
disputes settled either by villagers or foresters by mutual agreement and that five
tribunals for foresters and other were kulikas (high officers or head of the families),
sarthas (members of carvans), headmen, villagers and citizens 10 . During the
Vijayanagar days, besides the regular courts, there were a number of irregular but
popular courts, which were recognized by the government and allowed to dispense
justice in cases, which arose within their jurisdiction. The reason behind the
existence of these popular courts was lack of easy and quick communication in the
country and therefore it was not possible for all people to seek justice through the
regular courts which were few and located at distant places. Further, cases, which
required a good or effective knowledge of the differing local customs and practices
of the people, could more easily be enquired into by men of the locality. Thus, these
local courts enjoyed all the judicial and magisterial authority of a regular court.11 So,
it is revealed from the study that people‘s courts with different names had a
significant place in ancient Indian culture and history, to dispense justice as a part of
judicial administration.
10
S.D Sharma, Administration of Justice in Ancient India (1988) 169
11
T.V.Mahalingam, South Indian Policy (1955) page 213-215
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Kinds of Courts similar to Lok Adalats In Ancient India
We have discussed that various grades of courts in ancient India which were similar
to the Lok Adalats of present times. The different views were given by various
thinkers about the kinds of these courts. Yajnavalkya and Brihaspati said that courts
were of three types, viz:
(a) Puga, (Narad Calls Gana)
(b) Sreni, and
(c) Kula.
The study of Sukra-Niti also says about the popular courts that Kula, Sreni and Gana
formed the threefold hierarchy of bodies of self-adjudication and where these three
bodies failed, the king along with his officer was entitled to interfere.12 Colebrooke
also classified the popular courts into three categories, these were:13
(i) Puga,
(ii) Sreni and
(iii) Kula.
PUGA
The word ‗puga‘ or ‗gana‘ had denoted the local corporations of town and villages.
The Pugas were of communities residing in villages or in towns. They comprised of
persons dwelling in the same place irrespective of their castes or employments. They
were competent to decide cases in which the local public was interested.
Yajnavalkya mentions that the puga court consisted of members belonging to
12
VAndanagar, Kingship in the Sukra- Niti (1985) 51
13
R.C. Majumdar, Corporate life in Ancient India (1969) 128-129
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different castes and professions but staying in the same village or town.14 It is thus
evident that Puga court as the highest people's court had played a prominent part
almost throughout the country in the long course of the history.
SRENI
The term Sreni was used to denote the courts of guilds, which became a prominent
feature of the commercial life in ancient India. Generally, the Sreni was represented
by associations of traders or artisans or persons belonging to different tribes. They
appeared to be industrial courts or the courts of profession or courts of disciplinary
bodies of different merchant guilds. Modern friendly societies and trade unions have
analogous functions and bear almost a historic origin from the Srenis. The basic
feature of the Sreni courts was that its members belonged to the same caste as a rule
but they could also came from different castes who had same profession.
KULA
The Kula court was the informal body of family elders. It was the lowest people's
court, which was headed by Kinsmen.15 According to Mitaksara, Kula was a group
of relatives of the parties to the dispute. All social matters concerning that particular
community could be investigated and decided at this level.16 This was a common
discussion of persons collectively related by blood as of a family or tribe. They could
also be related distantly by marriage. Kulas or joint families were often very
extensive in ancient India; if there was a quarrel between two members, the elders
used to attempt to settle it.
14
M.K.Sharan, Court procedure in Ancient India (1978) 26 and Birendra Nath, Judicial Administration in
Ancient India (1979) 76
15
M.G. Chitrakara, Lok Adalat and The Poor (1993)22
16
M.G. Chitrakara, Lok Adalat and The Poor (1993)24 and 27
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Medhatithi also says about the village council (Kulani) as group of relatives, which
used to be the impartial persons comprising of agnatic and cognative of the litigants.
They were paid salary to discharge their judicial functions.17
So, it is revealed from the study of Hindu literature that Kula courts were used to
attempt to settle family matters by family laws and customs. Kula Courts were the
most popular lowest court in the entire strata of local courts. Thus, this was the
hierarchy of the people's courts in which Kula was at lowest and the Puga was at
highest level. These Courts were vested with judicial powers on the basis of the
sovereignty of the people. The basic idea behind functioning of these courts was that
the administration of justice was not the sole duty of the King alone but the people
also shared the responsibility of the State in dispensing of justice.
The relations subsisting between the different kinds of courts are thus described by
Brhaspati: "when a cause has not been duly investigated by meeting of kindred, it should be
decided after due deliberation by companies of artisans; when it has not been duly examined
by companies of artisans, it should be decided by assemblies of cohabitants; and when it has
not been sufficiently made out by such assemblies then it should be tries by appointed
judges".
And again he says: “Judges are superior in authority to meetings of kindred and the rest,
the chief judge is placed above them; and the king is superior to all, because he passes just
sentences.”
Therefore, in ancient Hindu judicial system, there was a well established hierarchy
of courts and appeals with well defined jurisdictions. These courts worked without
any procedural technicalities and decided the matters on the basis of principles of
natural justice, customs of locality, trade and castes, and commonsense. These
17
V.kane, History of the Dharmasastra, (1973) Volume III, 280-281
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popular courts not only helped to reduce the burden of the central administration of
justice but also provided justice to the residents at their door -steps.
Courts similar to Lok Adalat in Medieval Period
In the Muslim world, law and political theory are considered to be as much derived
from divine revelation, as is religious dogma. Islam did not recognize the institution
of kingship to start with. It believed in the democracy of the people. Hence the
absence of any particular rules in the holy Quran for the guidance of kings who are
subject to the same laws as others. There is no distinction between the canon law and
the law of state. Law being of divine origin demands as much the obedience of the
king as of the peasants.18
So, it is the duty of a king to uphold the authority of the Islamic law and to keep
himself within the four walls of it. Holy law served as an effective check on the
sovereign authority.19 On the basis of this idea, in India, the Muslim beginning was
made by Mohammudbin-quasim in 712 A.D. He came to India as invader and
returned thereafter. The real penetration into India was made by Qutub-uddin-aibek
who, in reality established his supremacy in the whole of northern India. The
Muslim, thereafter continued to rule over India for centuries till the year 1857 when
the last Mughal King Bahadur Shah Jafar was dethroned by the British and they
established themselves as the next rulers of India. The study emphasizes that
Muslim rulers did not interfere with the laws of Hindus or its machinery of
administration and the Hindus continued to be governed by their own law in
personal matters.
Judicial system was organized on the basis of revenue divisions of the empire which
was made for administrative purpose. There was a systematic differentiation and
18
H.S.Bhatia, in Origin and Development Of Legal And Political System In India (1976) Volume II 184
19
Id
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gradation of the courts existed at the Capital, in Provinces, Districts, Paraganahas

and villages for deciding civil, criminal and revenue cases.20 The hierarchy of courts
during Muslim period was as follows:
(a) Central Courts
(b) Provincial Courts
(c) District Courts
(d) Parganah Courts
(e) Village Courts
The judicial structure also gave place to the then existing legal institutions in India,
such as village panchyats which served an extremely useful purpose in settlement of
disputes during ancient India.
Position of Courts in Muslim Rule similar to Lok Adalats
As it has been seen above that the Muslim rulers established their own courts system
for providing justice to all. But the local courts or Gram Panchayats as dispute
resolution institutions continued functioning with minor variations even in Muslim
rule in the Medieval India. During Muslim rule, the royal courts existed in
administrative centers, but these did not produce a unified national legal system of
the kind that developed in the West.21 The law made by the Muslim rulers did not
penetrate into the villages. Throughout the Muslim rule, there was no direct or
systematic state control of the administration of justice in the villages where most of
Indian lived.22 It is revealed from the study that the Indian villagers settled their
dispute through the panchayats which dispensed justice independently. These
panchayats were not directly connected with the royal courts. However, the Muslim
20
M.B. Ahamad, The Administration of Justice in Medieval India (1941) 104-105 R.P Khosla in Administrative
Structure of the great Mugals (1991) 126
21
Upendra Bakshi and Marc Galanter, Panchayat Justice: An Indian Experiment in legal Acaess in M.
Capelettii(edited) Access to Justice (1979) Volume III 343
22
N. Sen Gupta, Evolution of Ancient Indian Law (1953) 112
32
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rulers traditionally enjoyed and occasionally exercised a general power of

supervision over all these popular courts. In theory, only the Royal Courts were
empowered to decide the criminal cases as well as to execute punishments. These
popular courts could pronounce decrees in civil cases at village level and invoke
Royal power in order to enforce them. While some adjudication was enforced by
governmental power and mostly depended on boycott and ex-communication as the
ultimate sanctions.23 So, the study shows that even in Muslim rule, the disputes at
the lowest level were disposed of by the panchayat or the people's courts. The
people were satisfied by the decisions of these popular courts because the matters
were decided by their own representative. In this way, these courts relieved the
government to a very great extent of its judicial functions.
Judicial Procedure of the Court or Judicial system during the Muslim Period
which were similar to Lok Adalats.
In Muslim rule, the village (Dehat) was the smallest administrative unit, at this level,
the Panchayat or the people's court was authorized to administer justice in all small
civil and criminal matters. The Panchayat held its sitting among the general public
where they administered justice and maintained peace and tranquillity in the village.
It was presided by five Panchas who were expected to hear patiently to both the
parties and deliver the decision in the Panchayat meeting. The decision of the
Panchayat was final and binding. The procedure followed by the people's court was
quite simple, systematic and primitive. There were no hard and fast technical
procedural laws obeyed by these courts for administering justice. There was also no
regular and fully fledged legal profession. Nor were there any elaborate provisions
for the law of evidence. Hence, the justice could be delivered speedily and
effectively. Qazis as the authority of royal courts were concerned more with
ecclesiastical matters among the Muslims.
23
Jadhunath Sarkar, Mugal Administration (1935) 29
33
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The Hindus were generally governed by their customs and the provisions of
Shastras. When the public trial of the accused person was deemed necessary, the
Amil could take the assistance of the people's court for this purpose. Many factors
were taken into consideration for arriving at the truth after setting every item of the
evidence adduced. Civil and criminal disputes were decided by caste men or village
elders and popular courts in the form of caste-courts, guild or religious heads.24 The
decisions of the Panchayats or people's courts were almost always unanimous and
the punishments imposed were fines, public degradation or reprimand or
excommunication. Imprisonment or death was not awarded, because there was no
power to execute these sentences, and also because there was no jails in the villages.
The fear of ―public opinion‖ against a particular person and its repercussions was
one of the most vital factors responsible for the prevention of crimes and hardly did
any case go beyond the village. The law administered by the Panchayats or people's
court was usually as per the prevalent caste and tribal usage and the customary law
of the land.25
Courts in British Period whose working was similar to Lok Adalats
It is quite evident from the historical facts that the British entered in India with the
purpose to establish their trade and business. But, gradually, they started to interfere
in the governance and administration of the country and developed their own
administrative and judicial system. So, the philosophy of the administration of
justice during British period has initially a different history. In the beginning the
magisterial functions were delegated to the native people due to reason that British
were not acquainted with local languages and the local laws. Besides, there was a
lurking fear in the mind of the British that the act of punishment of the members of
the native population could lead to agitation at any time. The result, therefore, was
24
R.C Majumdar, The History and Culture of the Indian People: The Mugal Empire (1974) 545-550
25
R.C Majumdar, The History and Culture of the Indian People: The Mugal Empire (1974) 545
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that they inducted Indians to discharge the judicial functions in the early days of
company rule. There is ample evidence to show that an Indian in the service of
company since 1614 exercised the powers of the Magistrate in the earliest days of
Madras settlement.26 However, it was only after the court reorganization in 1861 that
justice was administered at higher level by judges trained in common law. The result
of the induction of British judges in the Indian judicial system shaped the entire
working of the local courts. The people's courts thus entered into an era of lessening
importance, until, it went into eclipse, as a result of British policy of feudalistic
control of the countryside. 27
Position of Courts in British Period whose working was similar to Lok Adalats
It is true that the British applied their own justice system through which they
established formal courts in India. But the study shows that in beginning in the rule
of East India Company some local courts were also found which functioning almost
on the line of village Panchayats. These courts were re - modeled from time to time
by the company as according to its interest. The company also sometimes established
new courts of minor jurisdiction on the model of village tribunal or panchayats for
administering justice. These courts were necessarily of minor jurisdiction which
followed the simple and speedy procedure unattended by any rigid formality or
technicality. Reference may be made in this connection to the Choultry Court at
Madras, the Court of Conscience in Bombay and the Court of Requests at each of the
Presidency towns of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.28
CHOULTY COURT
26
V.N.S.Rao, A Sketch of three centuries of Court in Madras (1640-1947) (1984) 81
27
R.C Majumdar, An advanced history of India (1977) 553
28
Sen Gupta, Evolution of ancient India Law(1953)253-254
35
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In the village of Madras Patnam, a choultry court was established by the Hindu ruler
on the basis of the village administrative unit and the court was entrusted with
judicial functions. The Village Headman who also called as Adigar was presided
over the court. This was the only court for the residents of the Black Town at Madras
Patnam. Adigar decided both civil and criminal cases in petty matters of the natives.
For serious offences the reference had to be made to the native Raja. The Choultry
court was re-organized in 1678 by the company. Formerly, an Indian officer was to
preside over this court, but after the re-organization it came to be presided over by
the English servant of the company. There was no regular procedure followed by the
court in civil and criminal matters and punishment executed differed from case to
case. This court had jurisdiction to decide civil cases up to the value of 50 pagodas
and criminal offences of minor nature. After the creation of Mayor's court at Madras,
the jurisdiction of choultry court was much diminished. Its civil jurisdiction was
limited to only two pagodas and the appeals from the choultry court would lie to the
court of governor and council which came to be known as the High Court.29
COURT OF CONSCIENCE
The court of conscience was created at Bombay under the judicial system of 1672.
The court had jurisdiction to decide petty or in other words small civil cases up to 20
Xeraphins by summary procedure and without a jury. The court sat weekly, without
any charged, and provided a platform to dispense justice to poor litigants
expeditiously and without any cost. Its functioning seems almost similar to present
day Lok Adalat as they also charge no fees and have jurisdiction of petty cases
among other cases.
COURT OF REQUEST
29
M.P Jain in the “Outline of Indian Legal History”(1972) 14-26
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The charter of 1753 created a new court, called the court of requests, at each
presidency town of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras to decide, cheaply, summarily
and quickly, cases up to the value of 5 pagodas or fifteen rupees. The idea
underlying the creation of the court was to help the poor litigants with small claims
who could not defray the expenses of litigation at the Mayor's court. The court was
of great help to poor litigants mostly, Indians, who used to be involved in petty
disputes. The creation, working and the functions of the above courts of petty
jurisdictions were directly or indirectly influenced by the conceptions of the Popular
Courts or the Panchayats. These courts were established with the purpose to provide
justice to the poor litigants without much delay and cost.
Impact of British Rule on Courts whose working was similar to Lok Adalats
It is quite evident that the British rulers did not, initially, interfere in the Panchayat
system but the establishment of adjudicatory courts in the course of time brought
about the formalization of the justice system. There were also several factors
weakened the working of people courts and affected the faith of people upon these
courts. The administration of villages by the agencies of the central government,
extension of the jurisdiction of the civil and criminal courts with their adversary
system of adjudication which was unknown and new to village population, increase
in the means of communication, progress of English education, police organization,
migration of people from village to towns, growing spirit of individualism resulting
from new education system, growing pursuits of individual interests and
consequently lessening of community's influence over the members may be said to
be some of the main factors which gradually contributed towards the decay of the
people's courts in India.30 It is necessary to disclose that the English men brought
with them the concept of ruler and the ruled and the sense of superiority over the
local men. Therefore, they were not bound to follow the local laws and the local
30
K.N.C.Pillai, “Criminal Jurisdiction of Naya Panchyats”, JILI(1977) 439
37
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system of justice which bound only the local people. Gradually, they established the
adjudicatory process which became more and more formal with the introduction of
Anglo-Saxon system of jurisprudence and when India came to be a part of the British
Empire under the direct suzerainty of the crown, a full-fledged adjudicatory setup
on the basis of British judicial system with the development of new courts system
the legal formalities and technicalities were introduced into the Indian justice
system. Due to this reason the legal system became so complicated and it could not
be approached without the services of trained personnel i.e. the lawyer. So, it
became highly profession-oriented. The cost of litigation and lawyers fees gave rise
sharply making access to justice even more difficult which continues till today and
gave rise to the Lok Adalats in the present day scenario.
The net effect was that the poor man found it difficult to enter into the portals of the
court and the rich man was able to use the legal process as an instrument of
harassment of his poor adversary. Moreover, it became time consuming because of
technical procedural laws. Consequently, the judicial administration during British
period became more complex, both in terms of substance and procedure.31
Our law administration moulded by the British and with the values not wholly
indigenous or agreeable to Indian conditions, discouraging or victimizing the weak
through justice which was slow, highly priced advocates who was few in number,
by distant delivery centres and procedural myriad made up of different levels and
complex rules and tools.32
However, it is revealed from the study that some efforts were made by the British
rulers to revive the functioning of people's court, as for example, in Madras in 1816,
on the initiative of Munro, the panchayats were used to dispose of some petty cases.
31
A.M.Ahamadil,”Acess to Justice in india”, 11 Legal aid Newsletter, (1992) 17
32
C.D. Gunninghan, “Legal Ethics- A Gandian Perspectice,” 15 Indian Bar Review (1988) 69
38
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He tried to restore the everyday administration of civil justice into the hands of
people. He tried to legalise the panchayat system.33
Courts whose working was similar to Lok Adalats in Post Independence Period
After a long struggle, India got freedom on August 15, 1947. It was the dream of
freedom fighters that the dawn of independence will bring many golden things to
the people of India. The right to access to justice by reforming of the judicial system
at grass-root level may be said to be one of them. It was, therefore, realized by the
wise founding fathers of the Constitution that the Anglo-Saxon judicial system must
be reorganized so as to make legal remedies easily accessible to the poor,
downtrodden and backward in our villages. Similarly, Mahatma Gandhi also
emphasized for the need of changing of Indian judicial system because according to
him:34
“India lives in her villages and most of the countryside is smeared with
poverty and social squalor. Today the poor and disadvantaged are cutoff from the legal
system-they are functional out laws not only because they are priced out of judicial
system by a reason of its expansiveness and dilatoriness but also because of the nature
of the legal and judicial system. They have distrust and suspicion of the law, the law
courts and the lawyers for several reasons. There is an air of excessive formalism in
law courts which over owes them and sometimes scares them. They are completely
mystified by the court proceedings and this to a large extent alienates them from the
legal and judicial process. The result is that it has failed to inspire confidence in the
poor and they have little faith in its capacity to do justice”.
Professor N.G. Ranga laid emphasis on the aspect that ―without this foundation
stone of village Panchayats it would be impossible for our masses to play their
33
V.R.K Iyer,”The Indian Lawyer, His Social Responsibilities And Legal Immunities” 15 Indian Bar Review (1988)
117
34
Report of committee on National Judicare: Equal Justice- Social Justice (1977) 32
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rightful part in our democracy.35 Generally, Gandhiji compared Gram-Rajya to Ram

Rajya. So, he strongly supported the development of Panchayat justice system and
wished that the Panchayats will be the legislatures, judiciary and executive
combined.36
Therefore, there was a general demand of the countrymen to revieve the nyaya
panchayat system for the purpose of providing faster, cheaper and qualitative justice
to all at on the basis of age old virtues, principles and values and to implement the
dreams of our forefathers for a better nation to based on values of equality and
justice.
Revival of Nyaya Panchayat
With the institutions of panchayat-raj systems in the States, almost, all the states
enacted separate legislations establishing Nyaya Panchayats. In this way, nyaya
panchayats represented the judicial wing of Panchayati Raj and operated as per
principle of separation of power. Besides, the ideology of separation of powers and
efficient division of labour, two considerations supported the creation of nyaya
panchayat as it provide easy legal access to villagers and helps the State to replace
the existing dispute resolving institutions in village areas – be they caste panchayats,
secular institutions based on territorial jurisdictions or special dispute redressal
institutions established by social reformers or political leaders. In beginning of post
independence era, nyaya panchayats worked effectively in many States of the
country and incorporated several beautiful features.
First, these were formed by the government, and had power to try both civil and
criminal cases arising among the villagers. Secondly, they functioned on the basic
principles of natural justice and adopt simple procedures and rules. Thirdly, they are
35
M. Venkitarangian and Patabiramam in Local Government In India (1969) 248-253
36
M. Venkitarangian and Patabiramam in Local Government In India (1969) 247
40
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different from other rural institutions such as village panchs, vikas parisads and
sahakari samitis etc. This was so in order to ensure a degree of nonpartisan approach
in their working and implement the principle of separation of executive from
judiciary. Fourthly, nyaya panchayats were not strictly required to follow the
provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Civil Procedure Code, the Indian
Evidence Act and other similar procedural laws. Similarly in order to maintain the
simplicity, lawyers found no place in the nyaya panchayats. Fifthly, nyaya
panchayats dispensed justice to the villagers with effectively and with less cost.
Therefore, the nyaya panchayat retained the some of the features of the traditional
panchayats.37
Nyaya panchayats decided both type of cases civil and criminal. But a wide variance
in the jurisdiction and powers of nyaya panchayats had been reported over different
states in the country.
However, taking a general view, these had been vested with criminal jurisdiction
over
(a) offences affecting public tranquility;
(b) offences affecting the general public health, their safety, decency
and morals;
(c) minor offences against the human body;
(d) offences affecting property, particularly under the subheads—theft,
receiving stolen property and cattle-theft;
(e) offences relating to mischief and criminal trespass;
(f) criminal intimidation, insult and annoyance;
(g) possession of fraudulent articles or use of false weights or measures
and
37
K.R.Aithal, “ Revivification of Nayaya Panchayat” 24 Indian Bar Review (1997) 117at 123
41
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(h) sundry minor offences. 38 Besides, nyaya panchayats were

empowered to try civil cases of small magnitude which included the
suits for compensation for wrongfully taking or injuring movable
property, and suits for specific movable property the value of which
does not exceed the ceiling prescribed by the statute.39
Nyaya panchayats had powers to dismiss a plaint or application if there was no

prima facie case against the defendant or accused. They might issue summons, cause
appropriate documents to be produced and require the presence of a person for
evidence. They were empowered to fine the persons convicted for committing
offences, but no imprisonment was awarded for the conviction.
There were several advantages of allowing general public participation in the

administration of justice at the grass –roots through the institution of nyaya
panchayats. The knowledge of local laws, systems and the social standing of the
members of nyaya panchayats helped for dispensing effective justice. Likewise, the
decisions of nyaya panchayats enjoyed a greater degree of trust and acceptance
among the litigants and the villagers. Therefore, it could be stated that the institution
of nyaya panchayat enlarged the common man‘s involvement in the affairs of the
community and in the mainstream of national life. As a mode of participation in self-
governance, it generated confidence among the villagers who served for various
periods of time as members. This process could be expected to render the villagers
into more conscious and active citizens. Thus, this minuscule‘s made a small but
significant contribution towards nation-building. Therefore, it was necessary to
strengthen the position of Nyaya Panchayats in India. For the improvement of
working of Nyaya Panchayat System, the Mehta Committee Report recommended
38
M.Z Khan and K Sharma, Profile of Nayaya Panchayat(1982)6
39
42
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that judicial panchayats should have much larger jurisdiction.40 The Committee also
suggested that the village panchayats should suggest panels of names from which
sub-divisional Magistrate or the District Magistrate should select persons who
would form judicial panchayat, having jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the matters of
both civil and criminal nature. The Committee laid emphasis on the use of local
knowledge in adjudicating the disputes by the Gram Panchayats. It was also
suggested that Nayaya-Punchas should exercise some caution and should have a
degree of humility in the discharge of their functions. At the same time they should
be fearless and must administer justice in such a way that respect for law is
maintained. Similarly, the significant role of panchayats courts in administration of
justice was highlighted by the Law Commission in its fourteenth report. The
Commission supported the view point that these village Courts are capable of doing
a good deal of useful work by relieving the regular Courts of petty civil and criminal
litigation.
Further, the Legal Aid Committee constituted by Gujarat Government,

recommended in its report that revival and reorganization of Nyaya Panchayats was
necessitated by the circumstances to have easy access of the rural population to the
lower Courts and provide cheap and expeditious justice to them in small cases
arising out of their life. 41 Keeping in view the increasing importance of the
settlement of disputes through people‘s participation at grassroot level, P.N.
Bhagwati and V.R. Krishna Iyer, JJ. emphasized to modernize the existing judicial
administration and for the establishment of the Lok Nyayalayas at the village level.
Similarly, Law commission of India also visualized the problem of administration of
justice in the light of the spirit contained in the Article 39A42 which directs that
―The state shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice
on the basis of equal opportunity and shall, in particular, provide free legal
40
41
Report of the Gujarat Legal Aid Committee, 204-205 (1970)
42 nd
Article 39A added in Constitution by 42 Amendment in the year 1976
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aid, by suitable legislation or schemes, or in any other way, to ensure that

opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of
economic or other disabilities‖.43
The Report of Law Commission reveals that the Commission was not agreed with
the idea of abolition of Nyaya Panchayats while stressed that they should be
strengthen by adopting the proper safeguards. 44
Therefore, there was a great need to look forward for new ways, means and modes
to settle the legal disputes. They felt the need to resolve disputes by adopting
peaceful and amicable methods of conciliation so that the resolution would be
permanent. In view of the above requirements, the Lok Adalat system was
introduced as an alternative forum to resolve the disputes at various levels.
The experiment of this new kind of Lok Adalat in India was for the first time made
in State of Gujarat by Shri Harivallabh Pareek, one of the disciples of Mahatma
Gandhi. He was very much disturbed by the miserable conditions of the tribal
adivasis of Rangpur (Baroda) on account of their involvement in various types of
litigation which seriously affected their life style and financial position. In order to
provide relief to these adivasis he started the alternative mode of Lok Adalat for
dispensing justice in the year 1949 in Rangpur and continued the same for number of
years. The system was very effective and was acclaimed by all concerned.45
Shri. Pareek undertook the 'Padyatra' from village to village and spread this
movement as a result it came into existence as an institution of Anand Niketan
43
Article 39A of the Constitution of India
44 th
114 Report of the Law Commissions of India on Gram Nyayalalaya (1986) 18
45
S.S Sharma, Legal Services, Public Interest Litigation and Para- Legal Services (2003) 184
44
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Asharam. This form of Lok Adalat was people oriented and participated forum
which dispense to the poor litigants at their door-steps without any cost. 46
The new version of Lok Adalat has arisen out of the concern expressed by the
various committees setup to resort on organizing legal aid to the needy and poor
people and alarm generated by judicial circle on mounting arrears of cases pending
for long time at different levels in the court system.47
Hon‘ble Justice P.N. Bhagwati and Hon‘ble Justice Krishna Iyer of the Supreme
Court of India, laid emphasis on need for revival of the informal system of dispute
resolutions including the Nyaya Panchayats. They mobilized social action groups,
public spirited citizens and a section of lawyers to experiment settlement of disputes
outside the courts.48
They were of the opinion that to have an effective system it must be informal, least
expensive, generally deprofessionalized, expeditious and justice oriented. Justice
Desai, to encourage participation of people in the system, circulated a paper to all
the Bar Associations in the country in which he cautioned,
"If we fail in this endeavour, history is not going to pardon us, the time is
running out for all of us." 49
The formation of the Committee for Implementing Legal Aid Schemes (CILAS) by
the Union Government in 1980 under the Chairmanship of Justice P.N. Bhagwati
and later on under the Chairmanship of Justice R.N. Mishra gave a further boost to
46
Id.
47
Report of the Gujarat Legal Aid Committee, 1971, Report on Processual Justice to the People, 1973 and
Report of committee on National Judicare: Equal Justice- Social Justice (1977)
48
P. Bhargava, Lok Adalat: Justice at the Door Steps(1998) 16-17
49
P. Bhargava, Lok Adalat: Justice at the Door Steps(1998) 17
45
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the legal aid movement and the concept of legal Aid camps and Lok Adalat in
particular.50
Hence, the Lok Adalat movement as a part of the strategy of Legal Aid Movement
was started in Gujarat in March, 1982. The first Lok Adalat was held at village "Una"
in Junagarh District and inaugurated by justice D.A. Desai, the then judge of the
Supreme Court of India. Keeping in view the successful working of Lok Adalats, the
Lok Adalat programme was adopted by other states, such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,
Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, and the Union Territories of Delhi, Pondicherry, etc.51
The Lok Adalats, which were being organised on an informal basis, had got legal
recognition under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 (for brevity 'the Act‘).52
The Act came into force on account of several amendments on November 9, 1995.
The Act contains the detailed provisions about the set-up of Lok Adalats, their
jurisdiction, powers, procedure and functioning, etc. The Act has been again
amended by the Parliament, with the intention to constitute 'Permanent Lok Adalats'
for deciding the disputes concerning 'Public Utility Services'. The objective of
bringing this Act into existence was to devise more ways of reaching the poor man
and evolving speedy and less expansive system of administration of justice. Now,
the Lok Adalat system is working in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
Legislation Regarding Lok Adalats
The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 gave a legal status to Lok Adalats, pursuant
to the Constitutional mandate in Article39-A of the Constitution of India. The said
act contains various provisions for resolving of disputes through Lok Adalat. Thus,
the age old concept of Lok Adalat has, now, legal standing. It enables the Act to
50
51
52
Act no 39 of 1987
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establish Legal Services Authorities to provide free and competent legal services to
the weaker sections of the society so as to ensure that opportunities for securing
justice are see that the same are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or
other disabilities. Further the Act empowers LSA‘s to organize Lok Adalats to secure
that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal
opportunity.53
Need for Lok Adalat
In the present system, the litigant, who is the heart of judicial structure, is the most
neglected and exploited in the system. He is basically a consumer of justice and he
should receive equal, effective, inexpensive and speedy trial and justice. It is
imperative to reach the goal of equal access to justice, which is a Constitutional
commandment and statutory imperative.54
Unmanageable burden of pending cases, unmanageable arrears and delay in

disposal of cases in courts at all levels-lowest to the highest-along with high
expenses have undoubtedly attracted the attention of not only the lawyers, litigants,
social activists, legal academicians and parliament but also Judges of the courts. At
present the arrears of cases as so huge that unless they are disposed of on a war
footing the system may crumble down in a few years time. It appears that the justice
system presently in this country is about collapse. So, it is but natural that the
alarming situation of the Indian judiciary has attracted attention of anyone
concerned with law reforms.55
53
Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Rule of Alternative Dispute Resolution Method in Developmental
Society; “Lok Adalat” in India Anuarg K Agarwal , W.P No. 2005-11-01. P.7
54
KLJP’s The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, Sathhpal Puliani 2003, New Edition P.76
55
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The sole consideration, therefore, is how to reduce the delay in disposal of cases,
make the system resilient by removing its stratification, making the system less
formal and inexpensive so as to make justice within the reach of the poor.56
Frankly admitting, the existing legal system has remained unfortunately alien
having no direct contact with masses and is not at all meaningful to them.57 The
surprising growth in the arrears of cases has compelled the members of Law
Commission of India to deliberate on the revival of indigenous legal system 58 and
recommended it‘s restructuring to provide a new model or mechanism for
dissolving disputes on the principles of participatory justice. A need has been felt for
decentralization of the system of administration of justice to reduce the volume of a
work.59
The former Chief Justice, E S Venkatarahmiah once rightly observed. 60

"The problem of delay and backlog was likely to put the functioning of
Constitutional Government in disarray”
This warning of former Chief Justice carries really a great weight when examined in
the light of piling arrears and accumulated work-load of different courts and poses a
frightening scenario to the very survival of the legal system itself. In various
countries, such as the United States of America and western countries such as
England and France, the contribution of the Bar in rendering free and competent
legal-aid is praiseworthy and it must be adopted in India. Lawyers must respond
with juristic sensitivity to the voice of weak, poor, suppressed and exploited women
and destitute children so as to create equal society for them in which they can
prosper. The bar must evolve scheme to ensure that poor are able to afford Justice.
56 th
Law Commission of India: 114 Report on Gram Nayayalaya 1986 page 7
57
Ibid
58
Report of Legal aid Committee (Government of Gujarat, 1971) Para 13.12 page 209
59 th
Law Commission of India: 114 Report on Gram Nayayalaya 1986 page 7
60
Shrinivas Gupta, “ Judicial Delays versus Right To Speedy Trial, 1992 page 32
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The advocates are the backbone of the legal services to ensure compliance to the
Constitutional obligations and ensure statutory rights of millions of indigent, needy,
handicapped and deserving people.61
The Purpose of the Lok Adalat was/has been to provide a supplementary to the
mainstream legal system. The sanctity for holding Lok Adalat or people's court lies
in the growing dissatisfaction with the existing legal system and the need for
immediate relief for poor, helpless, economically and socially disadvantages
position, etc., who are in distressed familiar circumstances. The requirement of
immediate redressal and speedy disposal of disputes was felt most acutely in the
present socio-legal circumstances. In view of these circumstances, an attempt was
made to bring justice to the door steps.
The Lok Adalat was organized with the following objectives amongst others:
(1) Provide speedy justice.
(2) To create awareness among the public about the conciliatory mode
of dispute settlement and legal validity of Lok Adalat
(3) To fasten up the process of organizing Lok Adalat
(4) To encourage the public to settle their outside the normal court
procedure
(5) To allow the public to participate in the justice delivery system
The immensely huge population of India and the less fortunate masses have found
the delivery of justice through regular courts very complex and inefficient. The social
conditions prevalent in the Indian society due to the economic structure, a highly
sensitized professional and cheap legal service is required which is effective for the
poor and exploited masses. The institution of Lok Adalat tries to resolve the people‘s
61
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disputes by discussions, counselling, persuasions and conciliation, which result in

quick and cheap justice.
The objective of the Lok Adalats in the above paragraph, the purpose of the Lok
Adalats has been to reduce the burden of the courts. Therefore, the Lok Adalats base
their decisions on mutual consent and compromise. The Lok Adalat makes the
decision only after the parties have agreed on the amicable settlement and have
consented to it. The Lok Adalat is no more on trial basis in India. It is now a grand
success and but needs to be reformed in certain matters.62
The objective of the Legal Service Authorities Act as stated in its preamble is, that the
Act is enacted by the Parliament to provide free and competent legal services by the
State to the weaker sections of the society to secure them speedy justice and to
ensure that they are not deprived of it by reason of economic or other disabilities,
and also to organize Lok Adalat with a view to ensure that the operation of the legal
system in the country promotes justice among citizens on a basis of equal
opportunity.
In this object contains two important parts viz., the first part of the preamble covers
the subject of the society so as to ensure that justice is not denied to them by reason
of economic and other disabilities. The later portion of the preamble deals with
general object of the Act, which states ―and to organize Lok Adalats to secure that
the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity‖. It
is broader in its width and sweep aims at securing successful operation of the legal
system towards effective furtherance and promotion of justice among the litigant
public. As far as work load pending in all regular courts our country is concerned, it
is a universally acknowledged fact that the courts are saddled with heavy and
62
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unwieldy burden of arrears of judicial work and it has reached the point of alarming
proportion.
Hierarchy of Various Authorities Created Under The Act
Under the Act various authorities have been empowered to carry out its objectives.
National Legal Services Authority or in short NALSA is the supreme body and is
empowered to lay down policies and principles for making legal services available
under the provisions of the Act. It also frames the most effective and economical
schemes for legal services. It also distributes funds and grants to State Legal Services
Authorities and NGOs for implementing legal aid schemes and programmes.63 In
each state a State Legal Services Authority is constituted to give effect to the policies
and directions of the Central Authority (NALSA). They also have to impart legal
services to the people and conduct Lok Adalats in the State. The State Legal Services
Authority is guided and headed by the Chief Justice of the respective State High
Court who serves as its Patron-in-Chief. The Next Senior most Judge of the
respective High Court or retired Judge of the High Court is nominated as its
Executive Chairman.64
In each District of the state, District Legal Services Authority is empowered to

implement Legal Aid Programmes and Schemes in the District. The District Judge of
the District is its ex-officio Chairman.65
Similarly Taluk Legal Services Committees are constituted for each of the Taluk or
Mandal or for group of Taluk or Mandals to co-ordinate the activities of legal
services in the Taluk and to organise Lok Adalats. Every Taluk Legal Services
63
Section 3, The Legal Service Authority Act, 1987
64
65
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Committee is headed by a senior Civil Judge or a Junior Civil Judge as the case may
be.66
Supreme Court Legal Services Committee:
The Central Authority shall constitute a Committee to be called the Supreme Court
Legal Services Committee for the purpose of exercising such powers and performing
such functions as may be determined by regulations made by the Central
Authority.67
NALSA lays importance on legal literacy among the General Public and legal
awareness campaign among the masses which also contains awareness about Lok
Adalats. The effort is to publicize legal aid schemes such as the Lok Adalats so that
the general public, for whom Legal Services Authorities Act has provided for free
legal aid, may come to know about the various schemes and approach the respective
legal services authorities.
Organization of Lok Adalats
The below mentioned bodies may organize Lok Adalats at such intervals and places
and for exercising such jurisdiction and for such areas as it thinks fit:68
(1) National Legal Service Authority
(2) Supreme Court Legal Services Committee
(3) State Legal Services Authority
(4) High Court Legal Service Committee
66
Section 11A, The Legal Service Authority Act, 1987
67
Section 3A, The Legal Service Authority Act, 1987
68
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(5) District Legal Services Authority

(6) Taluk Legal Services Committee.
Thus the person who needs free legal aid can approach the Legal Services Authority
at any level- national, state, district or taluq. The National Legal Services Authority
(NLA), created by the Central Government, has power to lay down the policy and
give directions to the State Legal Services Authority in this behalf. But National
Legal Services Authority does not directly create any Lok Adalat. Lok Adalat is an
ad hoc body created from time to time by the State Legal Services Authority or
District Legal Services Authority which themselves are the creatures of the State
government under powers of nomination conferred by this Act. The latter operates
for a specified area and period of time in respect of matters which come to it in one
of the two ways specified in the Act that is to say, first, where the District Legal
Services Authority refers the dispute and second, where the presiding officers of the
court or tribunal makes a reference on the joint application of the parties. However it
does not indicate that if some of the parties to the suit make a joint application, while
the other do not, even then it will get jurisdiction to transfer the matter to the Lok
Adalat for decision.
Procedure of Lok Adalat
The procedure followed at a Lok Adalat simple and devoid of the regular formalities
of the Court. The Lok Adalat is normally presided over by a sitting or retired judicial
officer who is the chairman, with two other members, usually a lawyer and a social
worker. Thus every Lok Adalat organised for an area shall consist of such number
of-
(1) Serving or retired judicial officers; and
(2) Other persons, of the area as may be specified by the State
Authority or the District Authority or the Supreme Court Legal
Services Committee or the High Court Legal Services Committee, or as
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the case may be, the Taluk Legal Services Committee, organising such
Lok Adalat.
(3) The experience and qualifications of other persons referred to in
clause (b) of sub section (2) for Lok Adalats organized by the Supreme
Court Legal Services Committee shall be such as may be prescribed by
the Central
Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of India.
(4) The experience and qualification of other persons referred to in
clause (b) of sub section (2) for Lok Adalats other than referred to in
sub section (3) shall be such as may be prescribed by the State
Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court.
(5) A Lok Adalat shall have jurisdiction to determine and to arrive at a
compromise or settlement between the parties to a dispute in respect
of-
(i) any case pending before; or
(ii) any matter which is falling within the jurisdiction of, and is not
brought before, any court for which the Lok Adalat is organized:
Provided that the Lok Adalat shall have no jurisdiction in respect of
any case or matter relating to an offence not compoundable under any
Law.
Cognizance of cases by Lok Adalats

Section 20 provides:
(I) Wherein any case referred to in clause (i) of sub-section (5) of
Section 19; (i) (a) the parties thereof agree; or (b) one of the parties thereof
makes an application to the Court for referring the case to the Lok Adlat for
settlement and if such court is prima fade satisfied that there are chances of
such settlement: or
(ii) the Court is satisfied that the matter is an appropriate one to be
taken cognizance of by the Lok Adalat, The Court shall refer the case to the
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Lok Adalat: Provided that no case shall be referred to the Lok Adalat under
sub-clause (b) of clause (i) or clause (ii) by such court except after giving a
reasonable opportunity of being heard to the parties.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time
being in force, the Authority or Committee organizing the Lok Adalat under
sub-section (1) of Section 19 may, on receipt of an application from any one of
the parties to any matter referred to in clause (ii) of sub-section (5) of Section
19 that such matter to the Lok Adalat, for determination:
Provided that no matter shall be referred to the Lok Adalat except after giving
a reasonable opportunity of being heard to the other party.
(3) Where any cause is referred to a Lok Adalat under sub-section (1) or
where a reference has been made to it under sub-section(2), the Lok Adalat
shall proceed to dispose of the case or matter and arrive at a compromise or
settlement between the parties. (4) Every Lok Adalat shall, while determining
any reference before it under this Act, act with utmost expedition to arrive at
a compromise or settlement between the parties and shall be guided by the
principle of justice, equity, fair play and other legal principles.
(5) Where no award is made by the Lok Adalat on the ground that no
compromise or settlement could be arrived at between the parties, the record.
of the case shall be returned by it to the Court, from which the reference has
been received under subsection (1) for disposal in accordance with law.
(6) Where no record is made by the Lok Adalat, on the ground that no
compromise or settlement could be arrived at between the parties, in a matter
referred to in subsection (2), that for Lok Adlat shall advise the parties to seek
remedy in a Court.
(7) Where the record of the case is returned under sub- section (5) to
the Court, such court shall proceed to deal with such case from the stage
which was reached before such reference under sub-Section (1).40
Powers of Lok Adalats
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The Lok Adalats have been conferred power of the Civil court
under the C.P.C for the purpose of holding any determination under this Act, while
trying a suit and every proceedings of the Lok Adalat shall be deemed to be judicial
proceedings for the purpose of summoning and enforcing the attendance of any
witness and examining him on oath.
Every Lok Adalat has the requisite powers to specify its own procedure for the
determination of any dispute coming before it. All proceedings before a Lok Adalat
are deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of sections 193, 219 and
228 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) and every Lok Adalat is deemed to be a
civil court for the purpose of section 195 and Chapter XXVI of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
The Act gives to Lok Adalat the powers of civil court in respect of summoning and
enforcing attendance of any witness and examining him on oath: discover and
production of any document: reception of evidence on affidavits; requisitioning of
any public record,
document from any court or office, and other matters to be prescribed by
rules framed under the Act. In addition, it can specify its own procedure for the
determination of any dispute coming before it. Proceedings before it are deemed to
be judicial proceeding and members public servants.74
Advantages of Lok Adalat:
There are many advantages that litigant gets through the Lok Adalats. They are
(1) Court Fee: There is absolutely no court fee for case in the Lok
Adalats. If the case is already filed in the regular court, the fee paid will be
refunded if the dispute is settled at the Lok Adalats.
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(2) No Strict Application of Procedural Laws: Lok Adalats are devoid

of strict application of the procedural laws and the Indian Evidence Act while
settlement of dispute by the Lok Adalat. The parties to the disputes can
interact with the judge directly and explain their case which is not possible in
a regular court of law.
(3) Disputes can be directly referred to Lok Adalats: It is not
necessary that always a case has to always go through the regular court then
referred to regular court. Cases can be directly referred to Lok Adalats.
(4) Award are binding on the Parties: the decision of the Lok Adalats
is binding on the parties to the dispute and its order is capable of execution.
No appeal lies against the order of the Lok Adalats whereas in the regular law
courts there is always a scope to appeal to the higher forum on the decision of
the trial court, which causes delay in the final settlement of the dispute. In a
regular court, decision is that of the court but in Lok Adalat it is mutual
settlement and hence no case for appeal will arise.
(5) Expeditious Remedy: Disposal in Lok Adalats in cheap, fast,
effective, less cumbersome and efficient.
(6) Peace in the Society: As the scheme involves mutual amicable
settlement, it promotes peace and harmony among the public. Its process is
voluntary and works on the principle that both parties to the disputes are
willing to sort out their disputes by amicable solutions. Through this
institution, disputes can be settled in a cheap, faster and effective way at all
the three stages of trial i.e. pre-litigation, pending-litigation and post
litigation.
(7) Convenient: The scheme of the Lok Adalat is that the parties to the
disputes sort out their disputes by way of mediation by the Judges, who
would be guiding them on the principles of fair trial.
(8) Reduces the Burden of the Court: The scheme also helps the
overburdened Court reduce the overwhelming pendency and as the award
becomes final and binding on both the parties, no appeal is filed in the
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Appellate Court and, as such, the burden of the Appellate Court is also
reduced. In our country, number of Judges is very less as to the cases filed
and, hence, to reduce the accumulation of cases, the Lok Adalats are the need
of the day.
Disadvantages of Lok Adalat System
(1) Cases Placed Before Lok Adalat:

In fact Lok Adalat is brought into force to settle
the cases quickly but in reality number of cases placed before the
Lok Adalat delayed beyond imagination and parties might have
spent large sums in the form of court fee, advocates fee and other
miscellaneous expenses.
(2) Litigant is Not Living Person: Majority the cases placed before the
Lok Adalat i.e., to the extent of about 90 % are not between living
persons, but against non living persons. They are Motor Vehicles
Accidents Claims Cases, Bank Suits, Telephone bills cases,
Electricity Board cases, Municipal cases Panchayat cases
and in these cases Bank, Electricity Board, Municipal Corporation
are only legal persons. Here the aggrieved persons are faced with
bureaucratic torture. Usually in these cases meeting are held with
the officers prior to sitting of Lok Adalat and Lok
Adalats are held with best minimum norms fare as discussed and
finalized in the prior sittings. After fixing the norms, the parties are
not required to be persuaded for amicable settlement at Lok
Adalats. But these cases are kept in Lok Adalats to show a
statistical success of disposal of cases. In cases of insurance, meeting
with the officers of the companies are held in advance, the matters
are discussed on several considerations without participation of
other side (which is opposed to principles of natural justice). These
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are few cases, which are said to be decided justly. Most of the
cases relating to compensations are settled not to the advantages of
claimants.
(3) The Presiding Officers Not to Act as Facilitator But act as
Judges:
The presiding officers of Lok Adalat are chosen from the retired
judicial officers and others of that area who are having prescribed
qualifications and experience. But usually these officers are not in a
position to convince the parties for the settlement of cases in an
amicable manner, since they are not trained members. Especially
the presiding officer of the court mentality is just like in adversarial
proceedings and tries to behave just like he is sitting in the court
and plays not an active rule but passive rule. He ignores that he
is only facilitator but not decision maker as judge. Other members
who conduct Lok Adalat by the nature do not fall in line with their
brother members in Lok Adalat and invite adverse remarks of their
superiors.
(4) Technical Matters and Other Matters: The Lok Adalat is not
trying to settle technical matters and other suits like partition,
partnership, trust, contracts and easements or such other family
disputes are generally not touched by Lok Adalats.
(5) Lok Adalat Not Settling the Cases Afresh: The members of
National Legal Service Authority, Supreme Court Legal Services
Committee, State Legal Services Authority, High Court Legal
Service Committee, District Legal Services Authority
and Taluk Legal Services Committee are organizing Lok Adalat
with an intention to settle the cases which are referred to Lok
Adalat afresh but many of these cases are being settled in advance
by pre-arranged meeting between three parties and they
are being shown as disposal of cases during the Lok Adalats. The
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judges do not accept the compromise already arrived at by the

parties and persuade the parties or their advocates to keep the
matter alive till this Lok Adalat is organized to highlight higher
figures of disposal.
Analysis of the Policies Concerning Organising of Lok Adalats
One of the essential objectives of this research project has been to assess the
structural arrangements concerning organising of Lok Adalats. To this extent,
information has been collected from the identified states on various policy positions
of how Lok Adalats are planned and the manner in which such plans are executed.
This not simply aids in understanding the prevalent state of affairs concerning
organising of Lok Adalats in the identified states, but also provides insight into the
challenges which might be impeding a more efficient function of the scheme of Lok
Adalats. This analysis also helps in identifying the appropriate reformative measures
in relation to each identified state.
The relevant official policies in the identified states have been analysed under the
following broad conceptual headings;
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1. Policy Regarding Infrastructure of State Legal Services Authorities

2. Policy Regarding Types of Lok Adalats
3. Policy Regarding Frequency of Lok Adalats
4. Policy Regarding Preparation of Calendars
5. Policy Regarding Referring Cases to Lok Adalats
6. Policy Regarding Involvement of Additional Personnel
7. Policy Regarding Quantitative Weightage for Lok Adalat Work
8. Policy Regarding Additional Incentives for Lok Adalat Work
9. Policy Regarding Administrative Support
Policy Regarding Infrastructure of State Legal Services Authorities
The State Legal Services Authorities in the respective States function as the most
pivotal institution to implementing the scheme of Lok Adalats. The successful
planning and effective supervision of Lok Adalats in the concerned states depend
primarily on the ability and efficiency of the State Legal Services Authorities. In this
light, the infrastructural facilities afforded to the State Legal Services Authorities
acquire substantial significance. Firstly, it reflects the priorities of the state
administration. Secondly, infrastructural facilities also affect the working of State
Legal Services Authorities. One of the important aspects in this respect is the nature
of the building from which the State Legal Services Authorities function. The
adequacy of space available to the officers and other administrative staff is an
important consideration.
Best Practice
The best practice in this context can be noticed in Jharkhand. Amongst the states
covered under the research, Jharkhand has the most organised and relevant
infrastructure support for Lok Adalat activities although there is definitely scope for
improving the infrastructural facilities.
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Comparative Overview of Policies in Different States
The infrastructural facilities for the various State Legal Services Authorities in
general, are unsatisfactory. Most of be main offices lack adequate modern equipment
of communications technology and for data processing. There is also a common
problem of adequate spatial demarcation in all the SLSAs apart from the one in
Jharkhand. While the SLSAs in Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha have a building of their
own, the SLSA in West Bengal functions in the premises of the City Civil Courts
building in Kolkata. However, the building in Odisha is an erstwhile residential
building converted to the purposes of SLSA. It means that the facilities in the
building are fundamentally compromised. The SLSAs in Bihar, West Bengal and
Odisha do not have adequate space for organising consultation meetings or for
organising different activities which may be useful in planning and implementation
of the Lok Adalat system. This deficit is significant as it makes the SLSAs dependent
on other institutions (public/private) for organising important events. The same is
not desirable and definitely hinders the functional capacity of SLSAs to conduct their
activities in an efficient manner. Expansion and upgradation of infrastructural
facilities is essential in all the States.
Policy in Odisha
The Odisha State Legal Services Authority is presently functioning at S.O.20,

Cantonment Road (Gopabandhu Marg), Cuttack-753001. The said building is about
three km from the High Court of Orissa and the District court. The said building was
originally a residential building used as a quarter by the Judges of the Orissa High
Court. The said building had been renovated and its different rooms have been
converted into the chambers of the Patron In Chief, Judge In Charge, Member
Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Assistant Secretary and office rooms. Recently another
room was converted into a video conferencing room which was inaugurated by the
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Hon‘ble Mr. Justice Dipak Misra, Chief Justice of India who was the then Executive
Chairman of the National State Legal Services Authority.
However though the residential building has been renovated and converted
into an official building there is lack of space for each and every official in the said
building. Further there is lack of classroom, training halls, reception counters,
auditorium etc which is a hindrance for organizing meetings, trainings and other
important functions. The lack of space is also an issue for day to day working of the
officials.
The Odisha State Legal Services Authority at present utilizes the services and
infrastructure of Odisha Judicial Academy for their programmes. However this is
only a temporary arrangement and a permanent solution in the form of a proper
building is needed for the Odisha State Legal Services Authority.
The research team was informed that land has been acquired by the The
Odisha State Legal Services Authority at CDA Sector 1, Cuttack at the prime location
for the said purpose. However construction is yet to begin for the same. The building
work should be initiated at once so that there is ample space and appropriate
working conditions for the officials.
The District Legal Services Authorities at 12 districts have ADR buildings

which are used for legal aid services, permanent and continuous lok adalats.
However the other District Legal Services Authorities and the Taluk Legal Services
committees do not have any independent buildings of their own. They function in
the court premises only as normally the presiding judges of the district courts and
Taluks hold the Lok Adalats. Apart from the Secretary, DLSA whose exclusive work
is to look after the legal services work including organization of Lok Adalats, at the
Taluks the presiding officers doubles up as the in charge officer for legal aid work.
Also a wonderful practice was found in Odisha regarding Lok Adalats. In the Lok
Adalats organized by the District Legal Services Authority and Taluk Legal services
committee, every alternate Lok Adalats was held at a town/city/village where no
court is functioning but police station is present. This enabled the poor litigants to
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have access to justice at their own town/city/village. Instead of hundreds coming to

court from a particular town/city/village, the court coming to their place
encouraged most efficient and effective disposal. For this either a good school(as
schools are closed on holiday studies of children are not affected) or a block office or
panchayat office is chosen to be the spot for Lok Adalat and summons are send in
advance accordingly.
Apart from the buildings the Odisha State Legal Services Authority has
infrastructure such as computers, telephones, fax, internet, photo copiers, video
conferencing equipment and printers etc however it is in limited supply. The
research team was informed that the Odisha State Legal Services Authorities has
received a grant from the E-Committee and is in the process of procurement of
different articles for the office. The District Legal Services Authorities also have been
supplied with computers system but they are not sufficient to cater to all the needs
of the District Legal Services Authorities. Also there is lack of photocopiers, printers
etc which acts as a deterrent in doing work efficiently and on time. The Taluk Legal
Services committees are yet to receive any kind of equipment for aiding in Lok
adalat work. The Taluk Legal Services committees should be immediately provided
with computers and other equipment for organizing Lok Adalats and effectively
executing other works.
The Taluk Legal Services committees and District Legal Services Authorities
function at the respective Court Buildings which aids in their work as the litigants
do not have to go that to another building to avail the legal aid services. The same
should also apply to the State Legal Services Authority. The infrastructure should as
far as possible be built either inside the campus or near the campus so that all legal
aid services including Lok Adalat are provide to people effectively.
Policy in Bihar
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The Bihar State Legal Services Authority is presently functioning at Bihar State Legal
Services Authority, Budh Marg, Opp. Museum, Patna- 800001. The said building is
about 1.6 km from the Patna High Court and 3.2 km from the District court. The said
building is an independent building and is especially dedicated to the work of the
Bihar State Legal Services Authority. The Building is spacious and is properly
distributed into several sections as per the assigned works.
The building has ample space for the staff and has a waiting hall and
reception lobby among other rooms. The building also has a well equipped seminar
room in which literacy programs, training and classes were organized by the
authority. The Building is also well maintained apart from occasional maintenance
issues.
The District Legal Services Authorities and the Taluk Legal Services
committees do not have any independent buildings of their own. At some districts
ADR complex have been built but in other makeshift arrangements have been made.
Apart from the Secretary, DLSA whose exclusive work is to look after the legal
services work including organization of Lok Adalats normally the Judicial officers
hold the Lok Adalats at their respective court premises itself.
Apart from the building the Bihar State Legal Services Authority has
infrastructure such as computers, telephones, fax, internet, photo copiers, video
conferencing equipment and printers etc. However it is in limited supply. The
condition is same in the district courts. It would be worthwhile to mention here that
in the last few years NALSA has been proactive and is sanctioned funds for these
equipment and they are being procured at present. The inadequate number of
photocopiers, printers etc acts as a negative factor in doing work efficiently and on
time. The Taluk Legal Services committees are yet to receive any kind of equipment
for aiding in Lok Adalat work and they usually utilize the equipment provided for
the other office work. The Taluk Legal Services committees should be immediately
provided with computers and other equipment for organizing Lok Adalats and
effectively executing other works.
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do not have to go that to another building to avail the legal aid services. Lok Adalats
are also organized in the same premises except the Mobile Lok Adalats. If only more
IT equipment is supplied to the staff it would be an ideal office in respect of
infrastructure.
Policy in Jharkhand
The Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority is presently functioning near the AG
office at Doranda, Ranchi 834002 and has been named as Jharkhand Rajya Vidhik
Seva Pradhikaran Nyaya Sadan. The said building is about only 750 metres from the
High Court of Jharkhand. However it is about 5 km from the District Court. The said
building is an ideal building independently built for the purpose of the legal aid
services only.
The Building is spacious and is properly distributed into several sections as

per the assigned works. The building has ample space for the staff and has a waiting
hall and reception lobby among other rooms. The working environment in the said
building is also good and the building is also well maintained. The building also has
a well equipped conference hall in which literacy programs, training and classes are
organized by the authority. The reception/help desk is also well furnished with
phone, legal aid forms and has a well maintained and spacious lobby.
Some of the District Legal Services Authorities have independent ADR

Buildings but the Taluk Legal Services committees do not have any independent
buildings of their own. They function in the court premises only as normally the
presiding judges of the district and Taluks hold the Lok Adalats in the said premises
itself. The officers who are in charge of the Legal Services Authorities and the Taluk
Legal Services committees apart from the Secretary, DLSA whose exclusive work is
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to look after the legal services work including organization of Lok Adalats hold the
Lok Adalats at their respective premises.
The building also has a LED screen at the front of the building which displays
various data, figures and schemes of the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority.
The Building IT infrastructure is the best among all the states under study but more
IT equipment can aid in the efficiency of the state legal services authorities
The District Legal Services Authorities also have been supplied with
computers system but they are not sufficient to cater to all the needs of the District
Legal Services Authorities. Also there is lack of photocopiers, printers etc which acts
as a deterrent in doing work efficiently and on time. The Taluk Legal Services
committees are yet to receive any kind of equipment for aiding in Lok Adalat work.
The Taluk Legal Services committees should be immediately provided with
computers and other equipment for organizing Lok Adalats and effectively
executing other works.
do not have to go that to another building to avail the legal aid services. The
Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority is only 750 mts from the High Court is well
connected by the public transport and this makes the Jharkhand State Legal Services
Authority ideal in most aspects. The only thing lacking seems to be an updated IT
infrastructure.. Funds were received in the 13th Finance commission and also from
NALSA. Through the funds from 13th Finance commission many shortages have
been met at the State Legal Services Authority and District Legal Services Authority
but now it has to be done at each level.
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Policy in West Bengal
The State Legal Services Authority, West Bengal does not have an
independent building and is located inside the City Civil Court Building on the First
Floor on the 2 & 3, Kiron Sankar Roy Road, Kolkata. The said establishment is inside
the District court campus itself. It has been created by renovating and its different
rooms have been converted into the chambers of the Member Secretary and Deputy
Secretary, and office rooms. The said renovations have been done by way of wooden
partitions for the Member Secretary and Deputy Secretary and one large hall is
converted into the office space.
It is clearly evident that there is lack of space for officials in the said building.
Further there is lack of classroom, training halls, reception counters, auditorium etc
which is an obstacle for organizing meetings, trainings and other important
functions. The lack of space is hinders the day to day working of the officials.
The State Legal Services Authority, West Bengal at present utilizes the
infrastructure of the High Court of Calcutta and other public and private
organisations for their programmes and events. Many of the events are held in the
auditorium of the sesquicentenary building on the 9th floor. Further, the Lok Adalats
are held at the High Court, the district courts and taluk courts respectively.
However this is only a temporary arrangement and a permanent solution in

the form of a independent building is highly needed for the West Bengal State Legal
Services Authority. The proposal for an independent building should be initiated at
once so that there is ample space and appropriate working conditions for the
officials.
The District Legal Services Authorities and the Taluk Legal Services
committees do not have any independent buildings of their own. They function in
the court premises only as normally the presiding judges of the district and Taluks
hold Lok Adalats in the court premises itself at some designated place.
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The Legal Services Authority of West Bengal has inadequate infrastructure in

terms of Information technology articles in comparison to other states under study.
Equipment such as computers, telephones, fax, internet, photo copiers, and printers
etc are there however it is in limited and inadequate for the staff and work load on
them. The District Legal Services Authorities also have been supplied with
computers system but they are not sufficient to cater to all the needs of the District
Legal Services Authorities. Further there is dearth of photocopiers, printers etc
which acts as a deterrent in doing work efficiently and on time. The Taluk Legal
Services committees are yet to receive any kind of equipment for aiding in Lok
Adalat work. The Taluk Legal Services committees should be immediately provided
with computers and other equipment for organizing Lok Adalats and effectively
executing other works. Both the Taluk Legal Services committees and District Legal
Services Authorities depend upon the existing IT equipment of the Courts to execute
their work.
The location of the State Legal Services Authorities inside the court premises
enables the poor litigants to have immediate access to legal aid services including
legal aid. The Taluk Legal Services committees and District Legal Services
Authorities function at the respective Court Buildings which aids in their work as
the litigants do not have to go that to another building to avail the legal aid services.
We can infer that the best practice that is followed in that it is located inside the
court campus. However the cons of having insufficient space, inadequate
infrastructure and improper working environment outweigh the pros of having the
State Legal Services Authority inside the campus.
Policy Regarding Types of Lok Adalats
The scheme of Lok Adalats can acquire a variety of forms. Depending on the place
where it is being held and the range of Lok Adalats being organised across the State
on a given date, Lok Adalats can be classified into different categories. Firstly,
National Lok Adalats are held usually as per the dates specified by the National
Legal Services Authorities. On the dates so specified, judicial authorities at all levels
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in the States throughout the country; High Court, District and Taluk, hold Lok
Adalats in order to dispose of pre-litigative disputes and also pending cases.
Secondly, Periodic Lok Adalats are held as per the dates coordinated by the State
Legal Services Authorities at District or Taluk level. Mobile Lok Adalats refer to the
practice where instead of Lok Adalats being held in court premises, judicial officers
travel to different places to dispose cases. Permanent or Continuous Lok Adalats
refer to the Lok Adalats established under Section 22-B of the National Legal
Services Authorities Act, 1987. Permanent or Continuous Lok Adalats function
throughout the year unlike other Lok Adalats and are administered by permanent
institutional mechanism.
Best Practice
The best practice in this respect can be seen in Bihar. In Bihar, apart from the other
periodic Lok Adalats which are commonly held in other states as well, the use of
mobile Lok Adalats has been made an essential component of the Lok Adalat
scheme. Another best practice can be seen in Odisha where every alternate Lok
Adalats (Lok Adalat other than Mega Lok Adalat) was held at a town/city/village
where no court is functioning but police station is present. This enabled the poor
litigants to have access to justice at their own town/city/village.
National Lok Adalats are organised as per the directions of the National Legal
Services Authorities and there is no scope for variation in the different states. The
number of Permanent Lok Adalats established under Section 22B of the National
Legal Services Authorities Act varies. In Odisha and Bihar, there are thirteen and
nine Permanent Lok Adalats. Twenty four Permanent Lok Adalats have been
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established in Jharkhand. Unfortunately, not a single Permanent Lok Adalat has

been established in West Bengal. Variations are primarily seen in relation to the
periodic Lok Adalats organised under the mandate of Section 19 of the National
Legal Services Authorities Act. The scheme of Lok Adalats organised under this
provision also provides a more definitive indicator the initiatives taken by the State
Legal Services Authorities as the planning and implementations is left under their
discretion. The most elaborate practice in this respect can be seen in Bihar where
three kinds of Lok Adalats (Special Lok Adalats, Mega Lok Adalats and Mobile Lok
Adalats) are organised under section 19 of the National Legal Services Authorities
Act. In all the other states, the scheme of periodic Lok Adalats has not been
sufficiently streamlined.
Policy in Odisha
Three kinds of Lok Adalats are organised in Odisha. National Lok Adalats are
organised as per the schedule and directions of the National Legal Services
Authorities. Thirteen Permanent Lok Adalats have been established under section
22B of the National Legal Services Authorities Act. Periodic Lok Adalats are
organised from time to time under section 19 of the National Legal Services
Authorities Act. The Periodic Lok Adalats are organised simultaneously at the
district and the taluk level.
Policy in Bihar
Five kinds of Lok Adalats are organised in Bihar. National Lok Adalats are
Authorities. Nine Permanent Lok Adalats have been established under section 22B
of the National Legal Services Authorities Act. Periodic Lok Adalats are organised
from time to time under section 19 of the National Legal Services Authorities Act.
These Periodic Lok Adalats are primarily of two types. Special Lok Adalats are
organised by District Legal Services Authorities in relation to specific types of cases
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from time to time. The need assessment of Special Lok Adalats is primarily in the
domain of respective District Legal Services Authorities. Mega Lok Adalats are an
extension of the concept of National Lok Adalats at the state level. Thus, in a Mega
Lok Adalat, all courts of the state organise Lok Adalat on a specified date.
Mobile Lok Adalats are organised in Bihar. In Mobile Lok Adalats, judges travel
from one location to another to resolve disputes in order to facilitate the resolution of
disputes through this mechanism. In Bihar, Mobile Lok Adalats are an entrenched
part of the schedule of activities by the legal services authorities at various levels.
Policy in Jharkhand
In Jharkhand, three kinds of Lok Adalats are organised. National Lok Adalats are
Authorities. Twenty four Permanent Lok Adalats have been constituted under
section 22B of the National Legal Services Authorities Act. Periodic Lok Adalats are
organised at the High Court, District and Taluk level. As part of the initiative under
periodic Lok Adalats, Lok Adalats are also organised in jails from time to time.
In West Bengal, periodic Lok Adalats are organised from time to time under section
19 of the National Legal Services Authorities Act. However, no Permanent Lok
Adalats have been established in West Bengal. Another form of Lok Adalats which is
being conducted in West Bengal is Continuous Lok Adalats. Under this, in each
district, a continuous Lok Adalat has been constituted being presided by a serving
judicial officer. Matters in any of the courts in the district are referred to this
Continuous Lok Adalats. These Continuous Lok Adalats function after official
working hours.
Policy Regarding Frequency of Lok Adalats
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There has so far not been a settled and consistent policy regarding organisation of
National Lok Adalats. At the beginning of the concept in 2014, National Lok Adalat
was organised once in a year. However in 2015, it was organised once every month.
In 2016 and 2017, National Lok Adalats were organised on a bimonthly basis. While
the scheduling of National Lok Adalats is not within the domain of the individual
State Legal Services Authorities, the scheduling of other forms of periodic Lok
Adalats is in the decisional control of the respective Legal Services Authorities at
various levels.
Section 19 of the National Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 makes it categorically
clear that the intervals of Lok Adalats is decided by the respective State Legal
Services Authorities, District Legal Services Authorities, Taluk Legal Services
Committee, Supreme Court Legal Services Committee and High Court Legal
Services Committee. Thus, it is imperative to examine the policy adopted in this
respect. A consistent and logical policy in terms of scheduling of Lok Adalats is
essential to ensure popularisation of this method of adjudication of disputes.
Best Practice
The best practice in this respect can be seen in Jharkhand. In Jharkhand, Lok Adalats
are organised every month irrespective of whether a National Lok Adalat is
scheduled in that month or not. Also, the Lok Adalat is routinely held on the same
day, i.e. the fourth Saturday of the month. This provides regularity to the scheme of
Lok Adalat which is essential for building public confidence on this method of
disposal as a viable option. The agenda of National Lok Adalats is driven by the
National Legal Services Authorities and there has yet to be a sufficiently permanent
policy regarding the frequency of National Lok Adalats. Thus, there is no adequate
reason for the frequency of Lok Adalats at the state level to revolve around that of
the National Lok Adalats. Thus the reliability of schedule at the level of individual
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states can be an important factor in Lok Adalats being more than just ad hoc
contemplations in the minds of litigants.
The policies in different states vary in this respect. While Jharkhand has a properly
streamlined and reasonable frequency between consecutive Lok Adalats, in West
Bengal and Bihar, there is no definite scheme and Lok Adalats are held mostly on the
basis of ad hoc plans. In Jharkhand, Lok Adalats at the district level are organised
every month. On the other hand, in Odisha Lok Adalats are held on a bimonthly
basis and on such months where there is no National Lok Adalat.
Policy in Odisha
In Odisha, periodic Lok Adalats are organised on a bimonthly basis. The periodic
Lok Adalats are scheduled on the months in which National Lok Adalats are not
scheduled by the National Legal Services Authorities.
Policy in Bihar
In Bihar, Mobile Lok Adalats are organised two to four times a month. There is no
fixed frequency in relation to Special Lok Adalats and Mega Lok Adalats. The
schedule of Mega Lok Adalats and Special Lok Adalats is not based on the factor of
periodic intervals. Rather, such Lok Adalats are scheduled from time to time
depending on the need assessment. Thus, the frequency of Mega Lok Adalats and
Special Lok Adalats can vary from year to year.
Policy in Jharkhand
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The periodic Lok Adalats at the High Court level are organised bimonthly. The Lok
Adalats are the High Court level are held in the months when there is no National
Lok Adalat scheduled. At the district level, Lok Adalats are organised every month.
Also, as a matter of policy, the periodic Lok Adalats at the district level are held on
the fourth Saturday of every month.
In West Bengal, there is no fixed frequency in relation to organisation of periodic

Lok Adalats. There is no definite periodic interval between Lok Adalats being
organised at the State, District or Taluk level.
Policy Regarding Preparation of Calendars
As the work of Lok Adalats is conceptualised beyond the regular judicial schedule of
the courts, it becomes extremely important to plan properly. While the schedule of
National Lok Adalats is usually coordinated by the National Legal Services
Authority, the planning of other Lok Adalats is in the domain of State Legal Services
Authorities. A well thought-out and efficient schedule of Lok Adalats provides all
the concerned stakeholders sufficient time to plan efficiently. That in turn ensures
maximisation of the available opportunities for effective disposal of cases.
In this context, it is important to note that a general indication as to the number of

Lok Adalats to be organised in a given month of quarter may not be considered as a
planned calendar. A planned calendar should ideally contain specific dates along
with the details of the activities to be executed on such identified dates.
Best Practice
The best practice in this respect can be seen in Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand. In all
the three states, schedule of Lok Adalat activities is planned in advance and the same
is stipulated with specifics of dates and description of the activities. This kind of
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practice provides solidity to Lok Adalats as a reliable and dependable adjudicatory

option for settlement of disputes.
Apart from West Bengal, all the other states prepare calendar of events from the
beginning of year. In West Bengal, there does not seem to be any planning regarding
the range of scope of activities to be taken up in the course of a year. In West Bengal,
the organisation of activities is managed on an ad hoc basis and not pursuant to
planned list of activities.
Policy in Odisha
The responsibility of preparing the calendars for Lok Adalats to be held at the
district level and taluk level rests with the respective District Legal Services
Authorities and the Taluk Legal Services Committees. The respective District Legal
Services Authorities and Taluk Legal Services Committees prepare the annual
calendar as per the supervision of the State Legal Services Authorities concerning the
sufficient scheduling of Lok Adalats.
Policy in Bihar
Detailed Calendar is prepared in relation to the schedule of Mobile Lok Adalats and
also in relation to Mega Lok Adalats and Special Lok Adalats. The calendar usually
covers the plan of activities for a period of twelve months. The calendar contains
specific dates and also mentions definitive descriptions of the plan of activities to be
carried out on such specified dates.
Policy in Jharkhand
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In Jharkhand, calendar is prepared at the beginning of the year detailing the

schedule of Lok Adalat activities planned for the year. The calendar is specific in
relation to the exact dates and also the nature of activities scheduled for such
identified dates.
As the frequency of the Lok Adalats at various levels is not fixed, there is as such no
established practice of preparation of an annual calendar containing the tentative
plan of the schedule of activities. The schedule of each Lok Adalat is notified from
time to time instead of being in accordance with a pre-arranged schedule.
Policy Regarding Referring Cases to Lok Adalats
Under section 20 of the National Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, a pending case
can be referred for disposal through Lok Adalats in any one of the following three
situations;
1. When both parties to the dispute agree for disposal through Lok Adalat
2. When any one party to the dispute makes an application for referring the case
to Lok Adalat and the court is prima facie satisfied that there are chances of
such settlement
3. The court is satisfied that the matter is an appropriate one to be taken
cognizance of by the Lok Adalat
When a matter is referred for disposal through Lok Adalat either on the application
of any one of the parties or because of the court believing it be an appropriate case,
the court has an obligation to provide both the parties a reasonable opportunity of
being heard.
While the decision to refer a case for Lok Adalat because the Court is satisfied that it
is an appropriate matter for Lok Adalats is undoubtedly the individual discretion of
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the presiding officer of the court, this provision imbibes a strong foundation to
institutionalise the prioritisation of cases for disposal through Lok Adalats. By
developing appropriate parameters for the purposive exercise of this discretion by
issuance of guidance norms, a collective strategy for disposal of cases can be
implemented. Such guidance can be based both on the data at the state level and the
data in relation to the jurisdiction of particular courts. Attention can be paid to the
nuances of the pendency lists in courts and the possibility of efficient disposal of
certain categories of cases through Lok Adalats can be explored.
Even in the absence of any guidelines, it would be pertinent to take note of the kinds
of cases in which judges have been exercising this discretion. Detailed data on the
kind of cases for which both parties agree and the kind of cases in which any one
party makes an application would also be immensely helpful in understanding
litigant behaviour. Such an understanding would help in proper orientation of the
available human resource to prioritised areas of litigation.
Best Practice
The practice in none of the identified states can be termed satisfactory in this regard.
There is no proper cataloguing of data in any of the states as to how matters are
referred to Lok Adalats for disposal. There is no data to identify the patterns of
references made by judicial officers when they refer a matter to Lok Adalat on the
ground of both or either parties agreeing or on the ground of the case being an
appropriate one for disposal through Lok Adalats.
There is no indication of any guidelines being provided to judicial officers for a

purposive exercise of their interpretation under the different clauses of section 20
while referring a matter to for disposal in Lok Adalats.
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As is clear from the preceding paragraph, there is no existing policy in any of the
states which can be effectively compared. None of the states even maintain clear data
regarding the manner in which a case has been put up for adjudication in a Lok
Adalat. This is not an aspect which seems to have been the subject matter of any
serious policy formulation in any of the states.
Policy in Odisha
In Odisha, there is no data available on the different clauses of section 20 of the

National Legal Services Authorities Act under which cases have been referred for
disposal in Lok Adalats. There is no evidence of any guidance of advisory being
issued to the judicial officers regarding exercise of discretion under section 20. While
the guidelines issued by National Legal Services Authorities are circulated amongst
the judicial officers in relation to the National Lok Adalats, there is no macro or
micro policy initiative of a similar nature at the state, district or taluk level.
There does not seem to be any established practice of the pendency figures at the
district or taluk level being factored into consideration while planning for Lok
Adalats in relation to specific categories of cases by judicial officers in exercise of
their discretion under section 20 of the National Legal Services Authorities Act.
Policy in Bihar
There is no evidence of any coherent or firm strategic policy in this respect. The data
maintained by Bihar State Legal Services Authorities does not contain any details
about the manner in which a case has been referred to Lok Adalat. Thus, while
disposal records are available in relation to Lok Adalats, details of the number of
cases which were referred to Lok Adalats under the different clauses of Section 20 of
the National Legal Services Authorities Act are not available.
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There is no evidence of any guidance or advisory being issued to the judicial officers
regarding making reference of cases to be disposed of in Lok Adalats on the ground
that the concerned judicial officer considers the case to be an appropriate one to be
taken up in a Lok Adalat.
There also does not seem to be any established practice of taking into consideration
the pendency of cases in different categories as a relevant factor in referring any
particular category of cases for disposal in Lok Adalats.
Policy in Jharkhand
Apart from the guidelines of National Legal Services Authorities regarding

prioritization of cases within the scheme of National Lok Adalats, there is no
evidence of any established practice concerning issuance of guidance or advisory to
judicial officers regarding references of cases for disposals in Lok Adalats.
There is also no data available of the number of cases which are referred to Lok
Adalats as per agreement of both parties, as per application of one party or on the
sou moto reference of the presiding judicial officer. Thus, there is also no indication
that judicial officers are in the practice of using pendency statistics to promote use of
Lok Adalats in applicable categories of cases.
In West Bengal, there is no definite strategy concerning referring cases to Lok

Adalats. Also, no record is maintained of the number of cases which are referred for
disposal through Lok Adalats under different clauses of Section 20 of the National
Legal Services Authorities Act. There is no practice of any guidelines being issued at
any level in terms of prioritising certain categories of cases for disposals through Lok
Adalats.
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Policy Regarding Involvement of Additional Personnel
The mandate to organise periodic Lok Adalats stems from Section 19 of the National
Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Section 19 authorises the respective authorities
at various levels to organise periodic Lok Adalats with the help of either serving
judicial officers or retired judicial officers. In addition to that, the respective
authorities may also engage ‗other persons‘ for organising Lok Adalats. The
experience and qualifications of such ‗other persons‘ who may be engaged for
organising Lok Adalats is to be determined by either the Central Government in
consultation with the Chief Justice of India or the State Government in consultation
with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court. This provision is extremely
important keeping in mind the substantial workload of serving judicial officers. With
constant load of pending cases and accompanying administrative responsibilities, it
is not always reasonable to expect that serving judicial officers would be able to
facilitate optimum utilisation of Lok Adalats. For this reason, the statutory scheme
provides such an arrangement to ensure that Lok Adalats can function even with
retired judicial officers or appropriate ‗other persons‘.
It is important to examine the manner in which this provision has been utilised in
different States. Making calculated use of this provision would significantly
augment the human resource available for organising Lok Adalats. Especially,
involving retired judicial officers in the organisation of Lok Adalats would be
particularly beneficial keeping in mind their judicial background and experience in
adjudication.
Best Practice
The practice in none of the states can be termed satisfactory in this respect. None of
the states have properly maintained any data regarding the extent to which retired
judicial officers are involved in the organising of Lok Adalats.
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There does not seem to be any definite policy to facilitate active engagement of
retired judicial officers in any of the states covered under the study.
The absence of properly maintained records and the absence of any visible
indications of settled policy in this respect render it impractical to attempt a
comparative assessment of any kind. The involvement of retired judicial officers
seems confined to the statutory requirement in relation to Permanent Lok Adalats.
Although retired judicial officers are engaged in Lok Adalats organised at the
National level, no proper assessment of the policy is possible due to non-availability
of documented records.
Policy in Odisha
Retired judicial officers are engaged only as part of Permanent Lok Adalats as per
the statutory requirement under the National Legal Services Authorities Act. There
is no settled policy about encouraging the consistent involvement of retired judicial
officers as valuable human resource for increased efficiency of Lok Adalats. There is
no data available for the number of retired judicial officers engaged for disposal of
cases in Lok Adalats.
Policy in Bihar
None of the official data, regulations or correspondence of the Bihar State Legal
Services Authorities reflects a definite strategy to maximise involvement of retired
judicial officers in the functioning of Lok Adalats. While there is no notification by
the State Government concerning the qualifications and experience of ‗other persons‘
to be engaged in organising Lok Adalats, the matter is addressed by the National
Legal Services Authority (Lok Adalat) Regulations, 2009. However, there is no clear
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data on how often and how many retired judicial officers are engaged for organising
Lok Adalats or if they are engaged at all.
The only confirmed involvement of retired judicial officers seems to be through

Permanent Lok Adalats wherein it is a statutory necessity to involve retired judicial
officers.
Policy in Jharkhand
In Jharkhand, there is no settled policy regarding involvement of retired judicial

officers in Lok Adalats. In periodic Lok Adalats organised at the High Court level
and at the District level, only serving judicial officer and sitting judges participate.
Retired judicial officers are involved in the functioning of Permanent Lok Adalats as
per the statutory mandate.
Apart from the Permanent Lok Adalats, there is no evidence of any definitive effort
to streamline and maximise the pool of human resource in the form of retired
judicial officers for the purposes of Lok Adalats. There is also no data maintained of
the number of retired judicial officers who participate in Lok Adalats.
In West Bengal, retired judicial officers are engaged for Lok Adalats which are
organised at the State level by the State Legal Services Authorities. However, no
retired judicial officers are engaged in Lok Adalats organised at the district level or
the Taluk level.
Policy Regarding Quantitative Weight age for Lok Adalat work
In all states, judicial officers are expected to adhere to certain quantitative standards
of disposal. This is usually done by assigning a certain quantitative weightage to
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different types of cases and then setting benchmarks of cumulative quantitative

weight age judicial officers of different cadres are expected to achieve in a given time
frame (monthly, quarterly or annually). Fulfilling these quantitative benchmarks is
vital for judicial officers in the context of their career progress. In this context, it
becomes essential to examine the kind of quantitative weightage which is assigned
for the various functions performed by judicial officers in relation to organising Lok
Adalats. It is important to examine the exact function for which quantitative
weightage is assigned.
Typically, some kind of quantitative weightage is attached for disposal of cases

through Lok Adalats. However, it is particularly necessary to explore if quantitative
weightage is assigned for referring cases to Lok Adalats where such reference is
made only after hearing both the parties either under section 19 (i) (b) or (ii). This is
particularly important as the judicial officer who might have conducted the hearing
and referred the case and the judicial officer who might eventually dispose of the
matter in Lok Adalat need not always be the same.
Best Practice
None of the existing practices in any of the states can be characterised as satisfactory
in this respect. While, it is usual for some quantitative weightage to be assigned for
cases disposed of in Lok Adalats, no quantitative weightage is assigned for
conducting hearings under section 19 (i) (b) or (ii) of the National Legal Services
Authorities Act in any of the states.
In Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, quantitative weightage is awarded for disposal of

cases through Lok Adalats. The exact weightage varies due to the different systems
adopted in all the states regarding calculation of quantitative workload of judicial
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officers. For example, 5 units are awarded for the disposal of a civil/criminal case in
Bihar. On the other hand, in Jharkhand, 3 units are awarded for a criminal case and 5
units for every civil case. However, no quantitative weightage is awarded for
conducting hearings under section 19 (i) (b) or (ii) of the National Legal Services
Authorities Act.
In West Bengal, there does not seem to be any explicit policy regarding quantitative
weightage even for disposal of cases under Lok Adalats. This merits a serious
consideration as it is directly linked to the motivation of judicial officers in engaging
themselves properly in Lok Adalat work.
Policy in Odisha
In Odisha, 0.25 Units are awarded of every MACT case or civil suit which is
disposed off in Lok Adalats. There is no specific recognition in the form of any
quantitative weightage for hearings conducted under section 19 (i) (b) or (ii) of the
National Legal Services Authorities Act. It seems that the same is expected to be
adjusted in the form of 0.50 units for Senior Principal Civil Judge, Principal Civil
Judge (Jr. Division), Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Cognizance taking
Magistrate and 0.25 units for Additional Senior Civil Judge/Additional Civil Judge
(Jr. Division) which is assigned for first hearing matters as daily judicial work.
However, there is no explicit assignment of any kind of quantitative weightage for

such hearings for facilitating disposal through Lok Adalats.
Policy in Bihar
In Bihar, for each disposal of case through Lok Adalat, Five points are assigned for
both civil and criminal cases. There is no quantitative weightage attached to any
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hearing conducted under section 19 (i) (b) or (ii) of the National Legal Services
Authorities Act.
Policy in Jharkhand
In Jharkhand, 3 Units are awarded of every criminal case and 5 units in civil case
which is disposed off in Lok Adalats. There is no specific recognition in the form of
any quantitative weight age for hearings conducted under section 19 (i) (b) or (ii) of
the National Legal Services Authorities Act.
In West Bengal, there is no quantitative weightage which is assigned for disposing

cases through Lok Adalats. There is also no quantitative weightage assigned for
hearings conducted under section 19 (i) (b) or (ii) of the National Legal Services
Authorities Act.
Policy Regarding Additional Incentives for Lok Adalat Work
The work concerning periodic Lok Adalats organised under section 19 of the
National Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 are generally conducted beyond the
usual official working hours of judicial officers. Lok Adalats are organised on such
days when the courts are closed and the judicial officers as such do not have official
duties to attend to. Judicial officers are also not excused from their regular official
duties for doing preparatory work in relation to Lok Adalats. Thus, organising Lok
Adalat typically consumes what otherwise would have been off-days for judicial
officers. In such an environment, there is every possibility of the work concerning
Lok Adalat being perceived as an excessive burden in addition to the already highly
demanding duty schedule of judicial officers. Thus, it becomes imperative to provide
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an effective system of incentives so that judicial officers do not engage in Lok Adalat
work in a jaded frame of mind.
The guidelines issued by the National Legal Services Authorities facilitate payment
of one day of basic salary to the presiding judicial officers when Lok Adalats are
held on a Holiday. However, the policy adopted by different States in this respect
should ideally be flexible instead of an imposition. Marginal monetary benefits
might not always be adequate to create motivation. Thus, ideally, policy in this
respect should seek to be fluid keeping in mind the work environment of the judicial
officers. In this context, the possibility of compensatory leave might be a viable
alternative for judicial officers who are not incentivised by additional monetary
benefits.
Best Practice
The existing practices in all of the identified states are not ideal in this respect. While
the payment of one day‘s basic salary for having been involved in Lok Adalat work
on a holiday is standard as per guidelines of National Legal Services Authorities,
there does not seem to be any sustained effort to incentivise greater commitment
towards Lok Adalat work.
However, relatively, an additional incentive in this respect can be seen in Odisha. In

Odisha, commitment to ADR methods has been identified as a specific parameter for
General Assessment of Judicial Officers. Even though this parameter would involve
other ADR components along with Lok Adalat, it provides an official differentiator
for different levels of involvement in Lok Adalat work.
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The policies in this respect in all the states are underdeveloped. In Odisha and Bihar,
there also seems to be an anomalous application of the NALSA mandate regarding
payment of one day‘s basic salary when an officer is engaged with Lok Adalat work
on a Holiday. In both these states, this incentive is provided only in relation to
National Lok Adalats and no in relation to other Lok Adalats although there is no
such limiting prescription in the guidelines of NALSA. In West Bengal and
Jharkhand, the financial incentive is provided in all kinds of Lok Adalats.
An important point to note is the inclusion of ‗Commitment to ADR activities‘ as an

explicit component in the annual performance assessment of judicial officers in
Odisha. This reflects an integration of ADR activities (including Lok Adalat) as a
regular aspect of judicial activities and not as an additional burden beyond official
duties.
Policy in Odisha
Basic salary of one day is paid to all judicial officers who are engaged in organisation
of Lok Adalats on a Holiday. This is in accordance with the guidelines issues by
National Legal Services Authorities. However, this practice is followed only in
relation to National Lok Adalats. No such benefit is granted for other Lok Adalats
being organised by the legal services authorities of various levels in the State.
However, there is no scope of judicial officers availing compensatory leave instead

of the additional remuneration.
Commitment to ADR activities has been listed as a specific component under the
scheme of General Assessment of the Performance of Judicial officers in the Criteria
regarding Assessment of Work by Judicial Officers and has a maximum prescribed
weightage of 10 marks. While this component would undoubtedly cover
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involvement in Lok Adalat work, it also includes variety of other components

including participation in Legal Awareness Camps. Thus, there is no specific policy
incentivising greater effort towards Lok Adalat work.
Policy in Bihar
As per guidelines issued by National Legal Services Authorities, presiding judicial

officers are paid one Day‘s basic salary as a Special Duty Allowance for each day of
Lok Adalat which is held on a Holiday. Judicial officers are not entitled to
compensatory leave when they are engaged in Lok Adalat work on Holidays which
appears logical as they are paid basic salary for such days. There is no scope for a
judicial officer to forego the pay and instead opt to avail compensatory leave.
Also, no additional incentive has been institutionalised in relation to above average

productivity concerning Lok Adalat disposals. While, a certain quantitative
weightage is attached for each disposal under Lok Adalat, there is no incentive to
put in extra effort towards Lok Adalats as an adjudicatory method.
Policy in Jharkhand
In the State of Jharkhand one day of the basic salary is paid to all judicial officers
who are engaged in organisation of Lok Adalats on a Holiday. This is in accordance
with the guidelines issues by National Legal Services Authorities. However, this
practice is followed only in relation to National Lok Adalats. No such benefit is
granted for other Lok Adalats being organised by the legal services authorities of
various levels in the State.
Further there is no scope of judicial officers availing compensatory leave instead of

the additional remuneration.
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That apart there is no specific weight age for disposal in the Lok Adalat work under
the scheme of General Assessment of the Performance of Judicial officers in the
Criteria regarding Assessment of Work by Judicial Officers as the same is shown as
disposal but mode is not mentioned. Thus, there is no specific policy incentivising
greater effort towards Lok Adalat work.
Judicial officers are paid basic salary of one day when Lok Adalats are organised on
a Holiday. This practice is followed both for National Lok Adalats and other
periodic Lok Adalats.
However, there is no option of the judicial officers availing any compensatory leave
if they have been engaged in the work of Lok Adalats on a holiday.
Also, there is no additional incentive has been institutionalised in relation to above

average productivity concerning Lok Adalat disposals. There is no specific scope of
Lok Adalat related performance to be specially recognised in annual performance
appraisal of judicial officers.
Policy Regarding Administrative Support
Organisation of Lok Adalats involves a substantial amount of preparatory

work. It also requires additional administrative processes to be performed. In this
context, it is important to assess if judicial officers have access to any kind of
dedicated administrative support for maximising the utility of Lok Adalats as an
adjudicatory option. It is to be note that while usually, administrative support is
available in all courts; the same is mainly for the primary judicial work of the courts.
Thus, it is important to assess the administrative support, if any, extended to judicial
officers is in the form of additional work for the existing administrative capacity or is
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of a more dedicated nature. Lack of adequate administrative support is likely to

hamper the ability of judicial officers to effectively implement the larger goals of Lok
Adalat as a popular mode of adjudicatory option. Administrative work for Lok
Adalats would include supporting Lok Adalats by way of creating awareness about
Lok Adalats, clerical work (including maintaining records and entering data),
managing accounts, posting records, keeping the fine collected, handing over
receipts and variety of other tasks. It would also mean service of summons, setting
modalities for hearings like dates, appointing lawyers for mediations and creating
awareness about Lok Adalats etc. Administrative support would mean staff in the
offices and help of lawyers of the parties in engaged by them to settle the cases.
Best Practice
The practice in none of the identified states can be termed satisfactory in this regard.
The research team found out that there is no dedicated staff for Lok Adalats
exclusively in any office either at the State, district or taluk level in any of the states
under study. The existing administrative support is used for the Lok Adalat work.
Postal department and police department are also utilized for Lok Adalats to serve
the summons. The position of the Taluk Legal Services Committee is the same. Only
one state that is Odisha is at present employing retired staff on consolidated salary
in the legal aid offices but that is neither a permanent or good practice.
The policy in all the states under study is same and there is in fact no
policy either at the National Level, State Level or Taluk level for the administrative
support for the organisation of the Lok Adalats. In all the states, the legal services
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authorities have allotted the work of Lok Adalat to one staff but the said staff is also
engaged for other duties. The Judicial Officers who hold the Lok Adalats they also
do not have any staff dedicated for the Lok Adalat work. The existing administrative
support is used for the Lok Adalat work. Postal department and police department
are also utilized for Lok Adalats to serve the summons. At the taluk level there is no
staff who deals with the Lok Adalat cases exclusively. The dealing assistants who
deal in the cases to be put up during Lok Adalats are engaged during the Lok
Adalats.
Further the team ascertained that there is no training for the staff who deal
with the Lok Adalat work. There is no policy regarding training for the staff and
the staff learn either on the job or while handling the work get the experience. The
judicial Officers do get training but the there is no major thrust on the Lok Adalat
work. In all the states due to the lack of policies staff is unaware about the objectives,
goals of the Lok Adalat system.
Further there is no policy regarding recruitment of staff for Lok Adalat work.
Thus the policy of all states is to engage existing staff for the Lok Adalat which is an
additional work for the staff. Only the state of Odisha has employed retired staff for
the work but that is only a temporary measure.
In terms of incentive also the policies are not same in all states. In Odisha and
Bihar remuneration is provided for national level Lok Adalats and not for all Lok
Adalats. In Jharkhand it is provided for all Lok adalats. However the incentive is not
being paid to all staffs engaged in the work and also there is no fixed policy for the
same.
Policy in Odisha
It would be worthwhile to mention again that Lok Adalats in Odisha are

conducted by the Odisha State Legal Services Authorities, Thirty District Legal
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Services Authorities and Taluk Legal Services Committees in the various districts.
The District Legal Services Authorities organize the Lok Adalats with help of officers
who hold the Lok Adalats and they also monitor and supervise the Lok Adalats at
the others stations within their control. The State Legal Services Authorities hold the
Lok Adalats at the High Court by forming appropriate benches and also they
monitor and supervise the Lok Adalats in the whole State. The Taluk Legal Services
Authorities organize the Lok Adalats themselves, the Chairperson of the Taluks are
the judicial officers who hold the Lok Adalats.
The research team found out that there is no dedicated staff for the Lok
Adalats exclusively in any office either at the State, district or taluk level in Odisha.
In the Odisha State Legal Services Authorities there are 12 staff out of which one
staff deals with the Lok Adalats which he manages along with eight other
assignments. He also has been assigned to keep all data of all types of Lok Adalats in
the State. In the District Legal Services Authority, The District Judge is the Chairman
of the authority; one judicial officer in the rank of the Sub Judge as secretary and on
an average, one staff (permanent), two staff (contractual) have been appointed in the
said office. There are also two peons deputed for the work of the legal aid. Except
delivering local post and aiding in legal aid work, they do not deal with Lok Adalat
work exclusively and also do not deliver summons for the Lok Adalats. Presently
Odisha is employing retired judicial staff on a consolidated payment for legal aid
work. But during the period of study no such staff was appointed and also the
number of staff was also limited. At some place judicial officers were holding joint
posts that of registrar and legal aid secretary. The Judicial Officers who hold the Lok
Adalats they also do not have any staff dedicated for the Lok Adalat work. The
existing administrative support is used for the Lok Adalat work. Postal department
and police department are also utilized for Lok Adalats to serve the summons. The
position of the Taluk Legal Services Committee is the worst. During the period of
study only one peon was provided to do the legal aid work at the taluk level and no
staff was given. At present only one contractual staff has been given to deal with
legal aid work. No specific staff has been assigned to deal with the Lok Adalat work.
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That apart we find that the staff who have been assigned the Lok Adalats
work have never received any training regarding the Lok Adalat and hence have
only hands on experience on the said subject. This is a major deterrent as untrained
staff does the work as assigned instead of the way it should be done efficiently. Staff
also does not know the objectives, goals of the said system and this also leads to
inefficiency. Whatever training they have received is by the judicial officers under
whom they work.
There is severe shortage of staff for legal aid work let alone Lok Adalat work.
This coupled with the fact that the single staff who has been assigned with the Lok
Adalat work have never been trained and are contractual staff severely affects the
Lok Adalat work. Administrative support at the State Legal Services Authorities is
limited and the District Legal Services Authorities and the Taluk legal aid
committees depend entirely upon the existing administrative support for their Lok
Adalat work. Each court holding the Lok Adalat engages its own staff for the work
and most of the times it‘s without remuneration for the Lok Adalat except for
National Level Lok Adalats where some remuneration is given.
Policy in Bihar
In Bihar, there is no dedicated administrative support for judicial officers to

aid them in preparatory work concerning Lok Adalats. Concerned District Legal
Services Authorities do provide administrative support to judicial officers in the
form of staff, stationery, security and personnel at the time of Lok Adalat. However,
there is no policy of dedicated administrative staff aiding the judicial officer in the
preparatory work.
The Lok Adalats in Bihar are conducted by the Bihar State Legal Services
Authorities, Thirty six District Legal Services Authorities and Taluk Legal Services
Committees in the various districts. The District Legal Services Authorities organize
the Lok Adalats with help of officers who hold the Lok Adalats and they also
monitor and supervise the Lok Adalats at the others stations within their control.
The State Legal Services Authorities hold the Lok Adalats at the High Court‘s by
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forming appropriate benches and also they monitor and supervise the Lok Adalats
in the whole State. The Taluk Legal Services Authorities organize the Lok Adalats
themselves, the Chairperson of the Taluks are the judicial officers who hold the Lok
Adalats along with other judicial officers.
Adalats exclusively in any office either at the State, district or taluk level in Bihar. In
the District Legal Services Authority, The District Judge is the Chairman of the
authority; one judicial officer in the rank of the Sub Judge as secretary. At some place
judicial officers were holding joint posts that of registrar and legal aid secretary. The
Judicial Officers who hold the Lok Adalats they also do not have any staff dedicated
for the Lok Adalat work. The existing administrative support is used for the Lok
Adalat work. Postal department and police department are also utilized for Lok
Adalats to serve the summons. The position of the Taluk Legal Services Committee
is the worst. During the period of study only one peon was provided to do the legal
aid work at the Taluk level and no staff was given. No specific staff has been
assigned to deal with the Lok Adalat work.
The members of the Lok Adalat committee are untrained. The clerical staff who are
engaged in the Lok Adalat work have nor even received basic training on the
subject. All the three offices at the State, District and Taluk have understaffed and
none of the staff are dedicated for Lok Adalat work. Understaffed and without basic
training affects the output of the Lok Adalats.
Policy in Jharkhand
Adalats exclusively in any office either at the State, district or taluk level. In the
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Jharkhand State Legal Services there is no such staff or officer who has been assigned
to do the Lok Adalat exclusively. Due to storage of staff two staffs have been
assigned with the Lok Adalat work at the state authority office. Both the staff handle
other assignments also along with the Lok Adalat work. The composition of the
District Legal Services Authority and the administrative support is the same as
Odisha. The Judicial Officers hold the Lok Adalats they also do not have any staff
dedicated for the Lok Adalat work. The respective dealing clerks have been assigned
with the work of selecting, posting, summoning the parties for the Lok Adalat and
the judicial officers keep a close watch and guide them in the same. As in the state of
Odisha the existing administrative staff is used for the Lok Adalat work. Similarly
postal and police are also utilized for Lok Adalats. The position of the Taluk Legal
Services Committee is the worst. During the period of study only one peon was
provided to do the legal aid work at the taluk level and no staff was given. No
specific staff has been assigned to deal with the Lok Adalat work.
That apart the research team found that the staff who has been assigned the
Lok Adalats work have never received any training regarding the Lok Adalats and
hence have only field experience on the said subject. Some of the staff also do not
know the objectives, goals of the said system and this also leads to inefficiency.
Whatever training they have received is by the judicial officers under whom they
work.
This coupled with the fact that the untrained staff are asked to perform the work
leads to inefficiency. Administrative support at the State Legal Services Authorities
is limited and the District Legal Services Authorities and the Taluk legal aid
committees depend upon the existing administrative support for their Lok Adalat
work.
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The research team on its visit to the West Bengal State Legal Services Authority
found that it is managed by only two officers. Member Secretary who is a senior
judicial officer in the rank of District Judge and one Deputy Secretary cum Registrar
in the rank of senior Sub Judge. The strength of the judicial officers posted is the
lowest in comparison to all the states under study and in highly inadequate taking
into the consideration the volume of work in the State Legal Services Authorities.
Further we also found that the staff strength was inadequate and maximum of them
were contractual staff. As in the other state authority offices which were visited and
studied by the research team there is no dedicated staff for Lok Adalats.
Adalats exclusively in any office either at the district or taluk level. The Judicial
Officers who hold the Lok Adalats they also do not have any staff dedicated for the
Lok Adalat work. The existing administrative support is used for the Lok Adalat
work. Postal and police are also utilized for Lok Adalats. The position of the Taluk
Legal Services Committee is the worst. During the period of study only one peon
was provided to do the legal aid work at the taluk level and no additional staff was
given for legal aid work or Lok Adalat work. At present only one contractual staff
has been given to deal with legal aid work. No specific staff has been assigned to
deal with the Lok Adalat work.
That apart we find that the staff who have been assigned the Lok Adalats
work have never received any training regarding the Lok Adalat and hence have
only hands on experience on the said subject. This is a major deterrent as untrained
staff does the work as assigned instead of the way it should be done efficiently. Staff
also does not know the objectives, goals of the said system and this also leads to
inefficiency. Whatever training they have received is by the judicial officers under
whom they work.
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Administrative support at the State Legal Services Authorities is limited and

the District Legal Services Authorities and the Taluk legal aid committees depend
upon the existing administrative support for their Lok Adalat work.
Analysis of Disposal Records
As part of the project mandate, disposal records were sought from the respective
State Legal Services Authorities for the period starting on 01.07.2012 and ending on
31.07.2015. The purpose of the analysis was to have a better understanding of the
patterns of disposals in the respective states. Thus, disposal records were sought in
the following format;
5. District wise, Case Type wise and Month wise Record

6. District wise, Case Type wise and Year wise Record
7. State wise, Case Type wise and Month wise Record
8. State wise, Case Type wise and Year wise Record
Initially, in addition to the above mentioned specifics of jurisdiction and duration, in

order to maintain uniformity of analysis, data was sought in detail concerning
specific case types. However, it was discovered that most State Legal Services
Authorities were not in a position to share details of the case typologies identified by
the research team. Thus, the respective State Legal Services Authorities were
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requested to share data in whichever format they have maintained. The analysis was
proposed to be done in relation to disposals through Periodic and Permanent Lok
Adalats without including the disposals through National Lok Adalats. The agenda
of National Lok Adalats is regulated by the National Legal Services Authorities and
does not reflect on the planning or policies of the state authorities.
The nature and extent of disposal records received varied in different states. Below is
a description of the nature of disposal records received from different states;
Nature of Disposal Records Received from Odisha
While the Lok Adalats disposal records received from the Odisha State Legal
Services Authorities is mostly structured, it is not adequately detailed. The data
provides details of disposal records in four segments;
1. 01.07.2012 to 31.12.2012
2. 01.01.2013 to 31.12.2013
3. 01.01.2014 to 31.12.2014
4. 01.01.2015 to 31.07.2015
It mentions the total number of Lok Adalats held in the relevant period and provides
the following details in relation to the different kinds of cases;
1. Number of Pre-Litigation Cases Taken Up

2. Number of Pre-Litigation Cases Taken Up
3. Settlement Amount in relation to Pre-Litigation Cases
4. Number of Post-Litigation Cases Taken Up
5. Number of Post-Litigation Cases Disposed of
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6. Settlement Amount in relation to Post-Litigation Cases

7. Number of Total Cases Taken Up
8. Number of Total Cases Disposed of
9. Settlement Amount in relation to Total Cases
The above data is provided in relation to the following categories of cases;
1. Criminal Compoundable Offence Cases including cases under Section 138 of

the Negotiable Instruments Act
2. Consumer Cases
3. MACT/MACA cases
4. Matrimonial Disputes Cases
5. Labour Disputes Cases
6. Other Civil Cases
7. Revenue Cases
8. OJC/W.P. (C)
9. Land Acquisition Cases
10. Bank Recovery Cases
11. BSNL Cases
In addition to the above, details of the following categories of cases are also
provided in relation to some time periods;
1. SAT cases
2. Public Utility Services
3. DRT cases
4. MNREGs
However, the data does not provide the district wise break up of disposals. It does
not mention details of the number of Lok Adalats organised at different levels i.e. at
the level of State Legal Services Authorities, at the level of High Court Legal Services
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Committee, at the level of District Legal Services Authorities and the level of Taluk
Legal Services Committees. It also does not clarify if the disposal records include
disposals under National Lok Adalats organised during the relevant period and
disposals made by Permanent Lok Adalats. Initially, the data also did not provide
separate details of disposals through National Lok Adalats and disposals through
periodic Lok Adalats. Subsequently, data was provided separately for the National
Lok Adalat disposals. The disposals through National Lok Adalats were deducted
from the integrated list which was provided earlier.
The data does not reveal the proportion of cases which were referred to Lok Adalats
under the different clauses of Section 20 of the National Legal Services Authorities
Act.
Analysis of Disposal Records Received from Odisha
The disposal records of Odisha reveal that major proportion of the Lok Adalat
disposals are through some select categories of cases only. While the total disposal
records include a variety of case categories, the majority numbers are generated by
few categories of cases. In the overall disposal records, there is no balanced
distribution amongst different categories of cases. Below are the percentage
calculations of different categories of cases for 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015;
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PERCENTAGE CALCULATION OF DISPOSAL

RECORDS OF 2012 OF EACH CATEGORY
AGAINST TOTAL NO. OF CASES
48.10
41.93
5.83
2.03
1.28
0.63
0.11
0.06
0.01
0.02
0.00
Figure 1 Odisha Lok Adalat Disposal Records 2012

46.98
40.13
5.79
4.73
0.97
0.86
0.26
0.18
0.05
0.02
0.02
0.01
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53.49
39.79
2.32
1.12
1.01
0.53
0.49
0.37
0.33
0.29
0.10
0.10
0.04
0.02
0.00
0.00

60.31
35.21
1.64
1.53
0.46
0.35
0.13
0.12
0.07
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.02
0.00
0.00
0.00
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It can be noticed that throughout the period under study (01.07.2012-31.07.2015), a

large proportion of the Lok Adalat disposals constitute of two primary categories of
cases;
1. Criminal Compoundable Offence Cases (Including Cases under Section 138,
N.I. Act)
2. Revenue Cases
Below is the break-up of the proportion of Criminal Compoundable Cases in the

overall Lok Adalat Disposals from 2012 to 2015;
Percentage of Criminal Compoundable Cases as against

total cases
60.00
53.49
48.10 46.98
50.00
40.00 35.21
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
Criminal Compoundable Offence Cases including Cases u/s 138 NI Act
2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 5 Proportion of Criminal Compoundable Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals -

Odisha
Below is the break-up of the proportion of Revenue Cases in the overall Lok Adalat
Disposals from 2012 to 2015;
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Percentage of Revenue Cases as against total

cases
100.00
80.00 60.31
60.00 41.93 40.13 39.79
40.00
20.00
0.00
Revenue Cases
2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 6 Proportion of Revenue Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha
Thus, Revenue cases and Criminal Compoundable cases have accounted for 90.03%
of Lok Adalat disposals in 2012, 87.11% of Lok Adalat Disposals in 2013, 93.28% of
Lok Adalat Disposals in 2014 and 95.52% of Lok Adalat Dispsoals in 2015.
As a logical corollary, the proportion of other categories of cases is next to negligible.
Additionally, there has also not been any noticeable increase in the proportion of the
other categories of cases over a period of time.
Below is the proportion of different categories of cases from 2012 to 2015;
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Percentage of Consumer Cases as against total

cases
0.10 0.10
0.09
0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01 0.00 0.01
0.00
0.00
Consumer Cases
2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 7 Proportion of Consumer Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals- Odisha
Percentage of MACT/MACA Cases as against

total cases
2.00
1.80 1.64
1.60
1.40 1.28
1.20
0.97
1.00
0.80
0.60 0.49
0.40
0.20
0.00
MACT/MACA Cases
2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 8 Proportion of MACT/MACA Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha
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Percentage of Matrimonial Cases as against

total cases
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
Matrimonial Cases
2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 9 Proportion of Matrimonial Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha
Percentage of Labour Dispute Cases as against total cases

0.10
0.09
0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03 0.02
0.02 0.02
0.02
0.01 0.01
0.00
Labour Dispute Cases
2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 10 Proportion of Labour Dispute Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha
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Percentage of other Civil Cases as against total

cases
10.00
9.00
8.00
7.00
6.00
4.73
5.00
4.00
3.00 2.03
2.00 1.52
1.00 0.58
0.00
Other Civil Cases
2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 11 Proportion of Other Civil Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha
Percentage of O.J.C/W.P.(C) as against total

cases
0.35 0.33
0.30
0.25
0.20 0.18
0.15
0.10
0.06 0.05
0.05
0.00
OJC/W.P.(c)
2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 12 Proportion of O.J.C/W.P.(C) Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha
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Percentage of Land Acquisition as against total

cases
1.00
0.90
0.80
0.70
0.60
0.50 0.46
0.40
0.29
0.30
0.20
0.10 0.02 0.05
0.00
Land Acquisition
2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 13 Proportion of Land Acquisition Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha
Percentage of Bank Recovery Cases as against

total cases
10.00
9.00
8.00
7.00
5.83 5.79
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00 2.32
2.00
1.00 0.35
0.00
Bank Recovery Cases
2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 14 Proportion of Bank Recovery Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha
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Percentage of BSNL Cases as against total

cases
1.50
1.30
1.10 1.01
0.86
0.90
0.70 0.63
0.50
0.30
0.13
0.10
-0.10
BSNL Cases
2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 15 Proportion of BSNL Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha
Percentage of Other civil cases as against total cases

5.00 4.73
4.50
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.03
2.00
1.53
1.50 1.12
1.00
0.50
0.00
Other Civil Cases
2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 16 Proportion of Other Civil Cases in Lok Adalat Disposals - Odisha
While there are thirteen Permanent Lok Adalats in Odisha, the contribution of the
Lok Adalats to the volume of disposals is mostly marginal. At no point of time has
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the proportion of cases disposed off through Permanent Lok Adalats been more than
7% of the total Lok Adalat disposals.
Percentage of pre-litigation and post-litigation cases

disposed of against Total Cases
96.67 98.64
100.00 93.54 93.35
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
6.46 6.65
10.00 3.33 1.36
0.00
2012 2013 2014 2015
Percentage of Pre-litigation Disposal Percentage of Post Litigation Disposal
Figure 17 Proportion of Disposals Through Permanent Lok Adalats - Odisha
Nature of Disposal Records Received from Bihar
The Lok Adalat disposal records received from the Bihar State Legal Services
Authorities is not sufficiently detailed. It provides the annual disposal records from
2012 to 2016 of the following kinds of Lok Adalats;
1. Mobile Lok Adalat

2. Continuous Lok Adalat
3. Special Lok Adalat
4. National Lok Adalat
5. Mega Lok Adalat
There is no detail of the number of Lok Adalats organised. There is also no break-up
of the different categories of cases which were disposed of. There is no detail of the
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settlement amount. There is also no separate data in relation to pre-litigation cases.

The data does not provide details of the total number of cases taken up and provides
details of only the total number of disposals. The data does not provide the district
wise break up of disposals. It does not mention details of the number of Lok Adalats
organised at different levels i.e. at the level of State Legal Services Authorities, at the
level of High Court Legal Services Committee, at the level of District Legal Services
Authorities and the level of Taluk Legal Services Committees.
The data does not reveal the number of cases which were referred to Lok Adalats
Act.
Analysis of Disposal Records Received from Bihar
It was not feasible to conduct any kind of analysis due to the lack of detail in the data
received. With no information available regarding the disposal figures under
different categories of cases, it was not possible to have any kind of insight into the
disposal patterns.
Nature of Disposal Records Received from Jharkhand
The Lok Adalats disposal records received from the Jharkhand State Legal Services
Authorities is the most comprehensive when compared with the other states.
Monthly disposal records are available for period starting from July 2012 and ending
in July 2015. Disposal records of 8 National Lok Adalats organised between
01.07.2012 and 31.07.2015 are provided separately.
For the period from July 2012 to April 2013, monthly disposal records are available
in relation to the following categories of cases;
1. Bank Recovery cases
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2. Matrimonial Disputes
3. Criminal Compoundable Offence cases
4. Labour Disputes
5. MACT cases
6. Other cases
For the period from May 2013 to July 2015, disposal records are available in relation
to the following categories of cases;
1. Criminal Compoundable offence cases
2. NI Act cases u/s 138
3. Bank Recovery cases
4. MACT cases
5. Matrimonial cases
6. Labour Disputes
7. Land Acquisition
8. Civil cases
9. Revenue cases
10. Other cases
For the period from July 2012 to July 2015, data is available in relation to the number
of Lok Adalats organised at various levels (State Legal Services Authority, High
Court Legal Services Committee, District Legal Services Authorities, Taluk Legal
Services Committees). For each level of jurisdiction, details of both pre-litigation
disposals and post-litigation disposals are provided. Settlement amount is
mentioned only in relation to MACT cases.
However, the data does not provide the district wise break up of disposals. Also,
there is only the record of the number of cases disposed of and not of the number of
cases taken up.The data does not reveal the number of cases which were referred to
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Lok Adalats under the different clauses of Section 20 of the National Legal Services
Authorities Act.
It may be noted that we have excluded the disposal records from December 2014 and
January 2015 from the analysis. In both these months, there was huge spike in the
disposal figures compared to all the other months. For example, while the average
pre-litigation disposal across months is merely 6129, the disposals in December 2014
and January 2015 were 4208527 and 653736 respectively. Despite repeated queries,
we did not receive any clarification for this kind of anomaly. Thus, to maintain the
integrity of the analysis, the figures of these two months have been excluded from
the analysis.
Analysis of Disposal Records Received from Jharkhand
The disposal records in Jharkhand reveal that the distribution of disposal figures
amongst various categories of cases in uneven and not balanced. Some categories of
cases constitute a major proportion of the overall disposals. Consequently, in other
categories of cases, the proportion of Lok Adalat disposals is marginal. Below are the
percentage calculations of different categories of cases for 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015;
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Percentage calculation of disposal records of 2012 of each

category against total no. of cases
100.00
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00 45.13
50.00 35.28
40.00
30.00 14.32
20.00
10.00 0.00 2.38 0.70 2.19 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00
Figure 18 Jharkhand Lok Adalat Disposal Records 2012
Percentage of each category of case agains total number of

cases in 2013
100
90
80 71.4
70
60
50
40
30
20 13.89 10.68
10 0.36 0.51 0.17 0.27 0.3 0.18 2.25
0
Percentage of each category of case agains total number of cases in 2013
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80.00 67.61
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00 14.87
10.17
10.00 0.54 0.92 0.42 4.86
0.27 0.01 0.32
0.00

100.00
90.14
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00 6.24
0.80 1.83 0.26 0.08 0.12 0.00 0.33 0.21
0.00
It is clear from the disposal patterns that over the period under study, major
proportion of the cases disposed off through Lok Adalats comprise of disposals of
‗other cases‘ and ‗criminal compoundable cases‘. There is no clarity on the definitive
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types of cases which are disposed off under the category of ‗other cases‘.
Consequently, the proportion of the other categories of cases in overall Lok Adalat
disposals.
Below is the proportion of the different categories of cases from 2012 to 2015;
PERCENTAGE OF EACH CATEGORY OF CASES

MAPPED FROM 2012-2015
90.14
71.40
2012 2013 2014 2015
67.61
45.13
35.28
14.87
14.32
13.89
10.68
10.17
6.24
4.86
2.38
2.25
2.19
1.83
0.92
0.80
0.70
0.54
0.51
0.42
0.32
0.36
0.27
0.33
0.30
0.26
0.27
0.21
0.12
0.18
0.17
0.08
0.00
0.00
0.01
0.00
0.00
0.00
Figure 22 Proportion of Different Categories of Cases- Jharkhand
Nature of Disposal Records Received from West Bengal
The Lok Adalats disposal records received from the West Bengal State Legal Services
Authorities is structured but lacks adequate details. The data provides details of
disposal records on a monthly basis from July 2012 to July 2015. The records reflect
the total number of Lok Adalat benches held in each month. For the period from July
2012 to December 2012, disposal records are available in relation to the following
categories of cases;

3. Criminal Compoundable offences
4. Labour Disputes
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5. Other Disputes
6. MACT cases
For the period from January 2013 to July 2015, disposal records are available in
relation to the following categories of cases;

3. Criminal Compoundable offences
4. Labour Disputes
5. Other Disputes
6. MACT cases
7. NI Act u/s 138 Cases
8. Land Acquisition Cases
9. Civil Cases
10. Revenue Cases
However, there is only the record of the number of cases disposed of and not of the
number of cases taken up. The settlement amount is mentioned only in relation the
MACT cases and not in relation to the other categories of cases. There is also no
separate data in relation to pre-litigation cases. The data does not provide the district
wise break up of disposals. It does not mention details of the number of Lok Adalats
organised at different levels i.e. at the level of State Legal Services Authorities, at the
level of High Court Legal Services Committee, at the level of District Legal Services
Authorities and the level of Taluk Legal Services Committees. It also does not clarify
if the disposal records include disposals under National Lok Adalats organised
during the relevant period and disposals made by Permanent Lok Adalats.
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The data does not reveal the number of cases which were referred to Lok Adalats
Act.
Analysis of Disposal Records Received from West Bengal
Scrutiny of the Lok Adalat disposal records in West Bengal reveals that the
overwhelming proportion of disposals comprises of some specific categories of cases
only. The disposal figures are concentrated on specific categories of cases and there
is hardly any increase in the proportion of the other categories of cases over the
years.
Below is the case category wise distribution of disposals from 2012 to 2015;
Percentage distribution of Cases mapped for the year 2012

98.52
100.00
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00 0.21 1.05 0.00 0.00
0.00
2012
MACT Cases Bank Recovery Cases

Matrimonial Disputes Cases Criminal Compoundable Offence Cases
Figure 23 West Bengal Lok Adalat Disposal Records 2012
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100.00 94.05
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00 4.59
0.53 0.01 0.01 0.08 0.02 0.00
0.00
2013

Labour Dispute Cases Civil Cases
NI Act Cases Land Acquisition Cases

100.00 95.25
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00 0.46 3.54 0.03 0.00 0.04 0.00 0.00
0.00
2014

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100.00 91.91
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
6.12
10.00 0.61 0.03 0.04 0.09 0.01 0.06
0.00
2015

As is evident, an overwhelming number of Lok Adalat disposals comprise of

Criminal Compoundable offences. The disposal proportion of other categories of
cases is not simply marginal; there is also no pattern of increase over the years.
Below is the proportion of different categories of cases from 2012 to 2015;
Percentage of Criminal Compoundable Offence Cases as

against total cases
100.00
98.52
98.00
96.00 95.25
94.05
94.00
91.91
92.00
90.00
88.00
2012 2013 2014 2015
Criminal Compoundable Offence Cases
Figure 27 Proportion of Criminal Compoundable Cases - West Bengal
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Percentage of MACT Cases as against Total Cases

1.00
0.90
0.80
0.70
0.61
0.60 0.53
0.50 0.46
0.40
0.30
0.21
0.20
0.10
0.00
2012 2013 2014 2015
Percentage of MACT Cases as against Total Cases
Figure 28 Proportion of MACT Cases - West Bengal
Percentage of Bank Recovery Cases as against Total Cases

10.00
9.00
8.00
7.00
6.12
6.00
5.00 4.59
4.00 3.54
3.00
2.00
1.05
1.00
0.00
2012 2013 2014 2015
Percentage of Bank Recovery Cases as against Total Cases
Figure 29 Proportion of Bank Recovery Cases - West Bengal
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Percentage of Labour Dispute Cases as against total cases

0.05
0.04
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01 0.01
0.00 0.00
0.00
2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 30 Proportion of Labour Disputes - West Bengal
Percentage of Civil Cases as against total cases

0.20
0.18
0.16
0.14
0.12
0.10 0.09
0.08
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.04
0.02
0.00
2013 2014 2015
Civil Cases
Figure 31 Proportion of Civil Cases - West Bengal
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Percentage of NI Act Cases as against total cases

0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.02
0.01
0.01
0.00
0.00
2013 2014 2015
NI Act Cases
Figure 32 Proportion of NI Act Cases - West Bengal
Percentage of Land Acquisition Cases as against total cases

0.10
0.09
0.08
0.07
0.06
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0.00 0.00
0.00
2013 2014 2015
Land Acquisition Cases
Figure 33 Proportion of Land Acquisition Cases - West Bengal
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Critical Impressions from Disposal Records
Analysis of the Lok Adalat disposal records in all the identified states reveals a
similar pattern. In all the states, the major proportion of Lok Adalat disposals are
being achieved though some specific categories of cases. In Odisha, majority Lok
Adalat disposals comprise of Revenue Cases and Criminal Compoundable offences.
In Jharkhand, it comprises of the miscellaneous category of ‗Other Cases‘ and
Criminal Compoundable Offences. In West Bengal, the category of Criminal
Compoundable offences contributes more than 90% of the Lok Adalat disposals in
entire period under study.
These patterns are indicative of the manner in which the scheme of Lok Adalats is
being planned and implemented. It is clear that beyond a limited framework, Lok
Adalats are not gaining acceptability as a method of dispute adjudication. There is
no discernible pattern of the proportion of other categories of cases increasing. This
suggests that greater effort is required to mainstream Lok Adalats as a preferred
mode of settling disputes. If Lok Adalats as a dispute settlement mechanism remains
confined to only few categories of cases; that would severely hinder the efficacy of
Lok Adalat as an adjudicatory method.
The lop-sided and imbalanced nature of the disposal records defeats the objective of
popularising Lok Adalats although it may serve the task of meeting quantitative
benchmarks for the time being. While this should serve as the foundation to examine
the reasons behind such imbalanced disposal records, the lack of data makes it
virtually impossible. As has been noted, no details are available as to the proportion
of cases which are referred sou moto by the judicial officer and cases which are
referred on the application of one of the parties or by agreement of both the parties.
Without clear data in this respect, examining the reasons behind imbalanced
disposal records would only be a speculative exercise bases on anecdotal evidence.
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Feedback from Stakeholders
Survey Audience
In order to gain feedback on the various aspects of how Lok Adalats are organised, a
questionnaire was designed. The purpose of this feedback was to examine the
existing policies and to seek suggestions on the possible reforms that can be
implemented. Thus, the questionnaire was designated for the serving judicial
officers in the identified states and for the functionaries of legal services authorities
so as to have an insight into the challenges and shortcomings of the existing policies.
After extensive deliberations, feedback was not sought from litigants and from
members of the legal profession. Members of the legal profession have an extremely
marginal role to play in Lok Adalat and it was felt that it would not be meaningful to
seek their views in this respect. While participation by litigants is an essential aspect
of Lok Adalats, it was realised that feedback from litigants may be more relevant in a
perceptual study. When the focus is on identifying appropriate reforms, feedback of
litigants with narrow exposure to the Lok Adalat system would not be helpful.
Preparation of the Questionnaire
The questionnaire consisted of two parts. The first part consisted of 7 questions
where responses were sought in terms of preferring any of the given options. Thus,
the questions sought responses in the form of yes/no or responses in the form of
picking a rating in a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 indicated ‗very bad‘ and 5 indicated ‗very
good‘. These questions focussed on mostly on the satisfaction level with the existing
system of organising Lok Adalats.
The second part of the questionnaire dealt with open-ended questions inviting
suggestions on possible reformative measures which may be incorporated.
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The questions were structured similarly for both serving judicial officers and for
functionaries of legal services authorities as most questions sought responses in
relation to the structural aspects of how Lok Adalats are organised.
Mode of Administration
Feedback was sought through this questionnaire through two methods. Firstly,
resource persons were identified in all the four states and were requested to facilitate
responses from serving judicial officers. In this method, responses were sought
through Google Forms where e-mail ids of judicial officers were collected personally
by the resource persons.
Secondly, the State Legal Services Authorities were requested to either share the e-
mail ids of the Secretaries, District Legal Services Authorities or to facilitate the
administration of the feedback amongst such DLSA Secretaries physically. Most
DLSA Secretaries preferred to fill out the hard copy of the questionnaire instead of
responding via Google Forms.
However, the volume of response varied from state to state. There were 50
respondents from Jharkhand and 38 from Bihar. There were 15 respondents from
Odisha and only 4 from West Bengal.
Results
The results of the survey have been presented in the nature of percentage of
respondents in relation to different options of answers for different questions.
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Jharkhand
1. Regularity of Involvement in Lok Adalats
Involvement Level
26
Regularly
Sometimes
74
Figure 34 Regularity of Involvement in Lok Adalats- Jharkhand
While assessing the significance of the feedback received, it is necessary to have an

idea about the suitability of the respondents to comment on the subject matter of the
feedback. Thus we asked the respondents to rate the regularity of their involvement
in Lok Adalats with three options; Regularly, Sometimes and Rarely. 74 percent of
the respondents cited regular involvement in organisation of Lok Adalats. 26 percent
of respondents mentioned that they are sometimes involved in the organisation of
Lok Adalats. No respondent cited rare involvement in organisation of Lok Adalats.
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2. Adequacy of Time to Prepare for Lok Adalats
45
40
40
34
35
30 Very Bad
25 Bad
20 18
Average
15
Good
10 8
Very Good
5
0
Figure 35 Preparatory Time for Lok Adalat- Jharkhand
It is important to remember that organising Lok Adalats or participating in Lok

Adalats is not a fulltime assignment for judicial officers. Their duties pertaining to
Lok Adalats is in addition to the other judicial and administrative responsibilities
entrusted to them. Thus, it is important that there is sufficient preparatory time for
ensuring efficient functioning of Lok Adalats. 34 percent rated the preparatory time
available for periodic Lok Adalats as ‗Good‘. 18 percent rated the preparatory time
as ‗Very Good‘. However as many as 48 percent of the respondents rated the time
available as ‗Average‘ or ‗Bad‘.
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3. Efficacy of the Existing System of Process Servers
42
45
40
35
Very Bad
30
Bad
25 20
18 18 Average
20 Good
15 Very Good
10
2
5
0
Figure 36 Efficacy of the Existing System of Process Servers- Jharkhand
Unlike other regular official schedule, the volume of cases which are taken up in a
Lok Adalat is greater. Handling a significant congregation of cases within a narrow
time framework means that the process of serving summons and notices needs to be
as foolproof as possible. If there is any problem in that respect, the next possible
opportunity for a case to be listed for disposal through Lok Adalats does not arise
for at least a couple of months. The nature of Lok Adalats also necessitates the
serving of a significant number of summons and notices within a short span of time.
Thus, feedback was sought on the existing system through which summons and
notices are served. A significant majority of 64 percent of respondents expressed
dissatisfaction with the existing system of process servers. They rated the existing
system as ‗Average‘, ‗Bad‘ or ‗Very Bad‘. 18 percent of the respondents rated the
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system ‗Good‘ and a further 18 percent of the respondents rated the system ‗Very
Good‘.
4. Introduction of Technological Tools to Serve Summons and Notices
70
60
60
50
Very Bad
40
Bad
30 Average
Good
20
20 Very Good
10
10 8
2
0
Figure 37 Introduction of Technological Tools to Serve Summons and Notices-

Jharkhand
While there have been significant technological developments in terms of prevalent

communications system, most of the officially sanctioned procedures of notification
in the judicial system remain rooted in an earlier time. In recent years, there has been
an increasing trend in judiciaries across the country to integrate technological tools
in the system of serving processes. In this context, feedback was sought regarding
incorporation of technological tools such as e-mail and SMS for serving summons
and notices. An overwhelming majority of respondents responded very positively to
the proposition. 60 percent of the respondents rated this proposition ‗Very Good‘
and a further 20 percent rated it as ―Good‘.
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5. Adequacy of Quantitative Weightage for Lok Adalat Disposals
60
52
50
40
Very Bad
Bad
30
24 Average
22
Good
20
Very Good
10
2
0
0
Figure 38 Adequacy of Weightage for Lok Adalat Disposals- Jharkhand
In all States, judicial officers are expected to fulfil prescribed standards of

quantitative output on monthly, quarterly and annual basis. These policies (norms of
disposal) are calculated by assigning specific quantitative weightage to different
kinds of judicial and administrative work. Thus, different quantitative weightage
(usually in the form of Units) are awarded for disposing a case under section 302 of
IPC, Section 125 of Cr.Pc etc. It is assumed that the differences in the quantitative
weightage of different categories of cases corresponds to the seriousness of the case
or the time consumed for disposing cases of that nature.
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Generally, quantitative weightage is also assigned for disposing cases in Lok

Adalats. Feedback was sought regarding the adequacy of such quantitative
weightage. The basic point of this feedback was examine if the quantitative
weightage of Lok Adalats disposal or perceived by the judicial officers to be a
reasonable reflection of the work they put in for the said purpose.
22 percent of respondents rated the prevailing assignment of quantitative weightage

as ‗Very Good‘ and another 24 percent rated it as ‗Good‘. However, a significant
portion of the respondents (52 percent) rated the existing quantitative weightage as
‗Average‘.
6. Increasing Quantitative Weightage for Lok Adalats
Increasing Weightage of Lok Adalat

Disposals
28
Yes
72 No
Figure 39 Increasing Weightage of Lok Adalat Disposals- Jharkhand
As an immediate corollary to the earlier question on adequacy of the quantitative

weightage assigned to disposals in Lok Adalats, feedback was sought about
increasing the existing quantitative weightage. The pattern of feedback on this issue
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was a bit odd. Even though 46 percent of respondents opined that the existing
quantitative weightage is ‗Good‘ or ‗Very Good‘, only 28 percent of the respondents
were against increasing the quantitative weightage.
7. Adequacy of Administrative Support
26
44 Very Good
Good
26
Average
4 Bad
0 Very Bad
0 10 20 30 40 50
Figure 40 Adequacy of Administrative Support- Jharkhand
Adequate administrative support is indispensible for ensuring that there is optimal

utilisation of the scheduled Lok Adalats. This administrative support is essential in
the preparatory stage. A substantial majority of the respondents found the
administrative support to be ‗Good‘ (44 percent) or ‗Very Good‘ (26 percent).
8. Exclusion of Cases from Lok Adalat Purview
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Majority of the Officers recommended keeping the existing list unaffected. In

their view, the list was exhausted and varieties of cases were included there under.
For this reason, Lok Adalats could be organised successfully. If any category of case
was removed from the said list, it would adversely affect the rate of success of Lok
Adalat.
However, some of the respondents did not agree to the aforesaid view. One opinion
was that pre-litigation disputes especially the cases relating to Banks, non-banking
financial Companies and cases of BSNL should not at all be disposed of through Lok
Adalats. The reason assigned for this was that, these cases never formed part of the
pendency in Courts and if these cases were included in Lok Adalat, the very purpose
of holding Lok Adalat for reduction of pendency of different Courts would be
frustrated. Another recommendation, worthy of mention, on this point was that if at
all pre-litigation cases were considered for Lok Adalat, a specific Bench should be
constituted for said purpose and all the pre-litigation disputes should be disposed of
by the said special Bench. It was stated that by adopting this practice, the
participating Courts in Lok Adalat could devote full time for cases posted in Lok
Adalat from their respective Courts.
9. Inclusion of Cases in Lok Adalat Purview
The first recommendation was to include offences punishable ‗u/ss. 279 IPC, 147
& 149 IPC‘. It was stated that these offences were of very trivial nature and if placed
before Lok Adalat, the matter could be settled very promptly. It was a
recommendation to add offences punishable u/s. Sec.290 of the IPC to the list, on the
same reasoning as mentioned above. In addition, they also recommended including
matrimonial disputes into the purview of Lok Adalat. Apart from the above, some of
the respondents proposed to include cases which could be disposed of by means of
Plea-bargaining to the fold of Lok Adalat. There was a specific recommendation to
include small offences under the Excise Act especially Sec.-.47(a) of the said Act as
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because the cases of such nature instituted by police were compoundable in nature.
It was further suggested to include cases pending before the Tribunal and under
different quasi-judicial authorities in the Lok Adalat system so that a large number
of litigants would get the benefits of such system and the victim would also avail
timely justice.
Some Officers have expressed their satisfaction to the already existing list of cases to
be placed in Lok Adalat and their proposal is not to add any new category of case
which can be placed before the Lok Adalat.
10. Challenges in Conducting Lok Adalats
During the survey, the respondents were asked to highlight the challenges which
they faced while conducting Lok Adalats The specific opinion of one group of
respondents was that no challenge or impediment was there in holding Lok Adalat
and things were going well and smooth.
Other respondents, however, differed from the above answer. The first dissenting
view and challenge pointed out was ‗lack of awareness‘. It was stated that people
were not aware about the Lok Adalat system, the mode of its functioning and the
result which it would give them. It was their view that the concept of Lok Adalat
spoke about dispensing justice at door-step, promptly and without any complicated
procedure or expenses. If the beneficiaries of Lok Adalat were not made aware
about the above benefits, no Lok Adalat could be successful.
Jharkhand is considered to be a hilly and forest reach area. The Officers working in
such region faced problem in making timely contacts with the litigants and to
procure their attendance in Lok Adalats due to a remoteness of the area and the
apathy of the Government Departments in extending proper co-operation made the
problem even more complicated. This, as per some of the respondents, was one of
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the main challenges faced by them. The view was supported by another similar view
where the respondents admitted that non-appearance of the parties and litigants was
the biggest challenge for them in conducting Lok Adalats.
‗Frequency of Lok Adalats‘ was highlighted as one of the biggest challenges faced by
some of the respondents. They submitted that due to high frequency of Lok Adalat
that is to say on monthly basis, they hardly got any time to prepare for the next and
thereby the efficiency of the system and the success rate of Lok Adalat normally took
the back front. It was recommended by the Officers supporting this view that there
should be a reasonable time-gap between two consecutive Lok Adalats so that more
productive output would come out of the Lok Adalat system.
Response from Bar Members (Advocates) was been shown to be a pertinent

challenge for many Officers to overcome, while conducting Lok Adalats. It was
because many advocates were under the notion that if their cases got disposed of in
Lok Adalat, they would lose the brief as well as client and sustain financial loss.
Therefore, the Courts conducting Lok Adalats on many occasions faced a situation of
this nature where the Advocate, for reasons discussed above, did not co-operate in
Lok Adalat and did not persuade his client to appear in such Lok Adalat.
Last but not the least, some of the respondents submitted that service of
summons/notices was a problem area which needed proper attention. They were of
the view that attendance of parties in Lok Adalats was directly dependent upon
timely service of summons/notices upon them. So, there should be a specific and
potent summons- service mechanism, for Lok Adalats to be successful.
11. Possible Reforms in Lok Adalats
The first set of reforms as suggested by the respondents was regarding reduction
in the quantum of Lok Adalat and to holding Lok Adalats in a periodical manner,
either Quarterly or Half-yearly. It was submitted that merely organising more
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number of Lok Adalats would not serve any fruitful purpose. On the other hand, if
less number of Lok Adalats were organised but with more amount of preparation,
definitely the end result would be encouraging.
The second set of reforms related to proper and wide publicity of Lok Adalats. The
supporters of this view suggested that unless and until publicity was made, it would
not be possible for general public to understand the system of Lok Adalat and to
take proper benefit out of that.
The next recommendation was regarding establishing proper co-ordination between

the Bar, Prosecution and the Government Departments. It was said that the better
the co-operation & co-ordination, the more positive the outcome of Lok Adalats.
It was suggested by some of the respondents that in order to make the Lok Adalat
system more viable, Lok Adalat should be held on specific subject separately instead
of organising Lok Adalats on mixed subjects. Because by doing so, the participating
Court would concentrate on the subject in a better manner and it would also be
helpful to keep a track on the rate of success of Lok Adalat by collecting proper
statistics of cases placed and disposed of in Lok Adalats.
It was recommended by some of the respondents that in order to bring reforms in

the Lok Adalat system, use of technology should be made compulsory and Mobile
Phone numbers of parties must be written on the case records both civil and criminal
from the very beginning so that the litigants would be intimated through said
Mobile Phones regarding status of their case and if required parties would be issued
with notice through SMS to appear in Lok Adalat. By this a lot of time could be
saved and parties could also be made aware about the latest position of their case.
The respondents who supported the above view also proposed that Police
Department must have a special wing to serve summons/notices in cases instituted
on police complaint and they must ensure attendance of the litigants.
It was also suggested that infrastructure was one of the important areas which
needed timely attention and if the Lok adalat system was to be made more
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productive, proper infrastructure in shape of Offices, Building, Court Halls, Vehicles

must be provided along with sufficient and trained man power to achieve higher
rate of success.
Bihar
Involvement Level
24
Regularly
Sometimes
Rarely
71
Figure 41 Regularity of Involvement in Lok Adalats- Bihar

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in Lok Adalats with three options; Regularly, Sometimes and Rarely. While 5 percent
of the respondents are involvement in organisation of Lok Adalats rarely, 71 percent
of respondents are regularly involved.
30
26
24
25
21 21
20 Very Bad
Bad
15
Average
10 8
Good
5 Very Good
Figure 42 Adequacy of Time to Prepare for Lok Adalats- Bihar

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ensuring efficient functioning of Lok Adalats. A majority of the respondents (53

percent) rated the preparatory time available as ‗Very Bad‘, ‗Bad‘ or ‗Average‘.
29
30
25 21 Very Bad
18
20 16 16 Bad
15 Average
10 Good
5 Very Good
Figure 43 Efficacy of the Existing System of Process Servers- Bihar
notices are served.
A significant majority of the respondents (61 percent) found the existing system of
process servers to be ‗Average‘, ‗Bad‘ or ‗Very Bad‘. Only 39 percent of the
respondents found it to be ‗Good‘ or ‗Very Good‘.
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50
45
45
40
35
30 Very Bad
24 Bad
25
Average
20 18
Good
15
Very Good
10 8
5
5

Bihar

and notices.
An overwhelming majority of the respondents (69 percent) found favour with this
proposition. While 18 percent rated this proposition as ‗Average‘, only 13 percent
rated it as ‗Bad‘ or ‗Very Bad‘.
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29
29
Very Good
Good
29
Average
13 Bad
Very Bad
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Figure 45 Adequacy of Weightage for Lok Adalat Disposals- Bihar


A majority of the respondents (58 percent) rated the existing assignment of

quantitative weightage for Lok Adalat Disposals as ‗Good‘ or ‗Very Good‘.
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Disposals
29
Yes
71 No
Figure 46 Increasing Weightage of Lok Adalat Disposals- Bihar

increasing the existing quantitative weightage. In a pattern or responses similar to
that of Jharkhand, even though 58 percent of the respondents found the existing
quantitative weightage to be ‗Good‘ or ‗Very Good‘, as many as 71 percent of the
respondents favoured an increase in the existing quantitative weightage.
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10.5
24
Very Good
Good
29
Average
10.5 Bad
Very Bad
26
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Figure 47 Adequacy of Administrative Support- Bihar

the preparatory stage.
An overwhelming majority of the respondents (65.5 percent) rated the available

administrative support as ‗Very Bad‘, ‗Bad‘ or ―Average‘.
The majority view of Officers from Bihar who responded to the question was that no
case should be removed from the list of Cases which are placed before the Lok
Adalat for disposal.
However, a good number of officers dissented. Their view was that some specific
category of Cases should not be considered in Lok Adalats. In responding to this
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query, one participating Judge was of the view that ‗Cases relating to Partition and
Title‘ should not find place in the list of cases to be disposed of in Lok Adalat.
However, no specific reason was assigned for this response.
Another important view received was relating to exclusion of ‗bank recovery cases‘.
The probable reason that appears for such response, as appears from the available
data is that in Lok Adalats, the banking institutions file a number of petitions for
disposal of pre-litigation disputes relating to unpaid bank loans, but indeed, the said
cases do not get settled permanently and the banking institutions only utilise the
instrumentalities of Court system in part-collection of outstanding dues of their
loanees.
A similar view was taken by another group of respondents who recommended

exclusion of ‗Pension cases‘, but, no specific reason is assigned on this point.
Therefore, on a careful analysis of the question of exclusion of any specific category

of cases from the purview of Lok Adalat so far as the State of Bihar is concerned, it is
ascertained that the majority of officers working under the system do not propose
exclusion of any category of case which are presently considered fit to be placed
before the Lok Adalat except for the minority view that Civil Cases relating to
Partition and Title, bank recovery cases, Pension Cases and non-compoundable
Criminal cases should be excluded from the Lok Adalat system.
Only a handful of respondents have expressed their view regarding ‗non-

inclusion of any new category of case‘ but the majority view is in favour of inclusion
of cases of different categories, both Civil as well as Criminal.
Some respondents have recommended to include offences ‗u/s. 307 of Indian Penal
Code (Attempt to commit murder)‘ and ‗u/s. 326 of Indian Penal Code (voluntarily
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causing grievous hurt by use of dangerous weapon)‘ into the purview of Lok Adalat.
However, no specific reason has been assigned for inclusion of the above offences.
Some of the respondents recommended including ‗Civil Suits relating to Partition‘,

‗Cases under the Excise Act‘, ‗Cases relating to Telephone service provided by
BSNL‘ and ‗Consumer Dispute cases‘ into the fold of Lok Adalats, in order to make
it more effective and appreciated by public.
On the basis of the varieties of suggestions and recommendations received from the
respondents, it may be concluded that majority of the Officers in the State of Bihar
support inclusion of Civil Suits relating to Partition & Title and Criminal
compoundable cases under investigation as well as pending in pre-cognizance stage,
in the Lok Adalat system.
10. Challenges in conducting Lok Adalats
The responses of the participants is summarised as under;-
(a) The first and foremost challenge faced by Officers in Bihar is the lack of
co-operation of Advocates, litigants as well as different departments of the State
Government. It is stated that some of the Advocates never express their willingness
to dispose of pending cases of suitable nature in Lok Adalat and they dissuade their
clients from appearing in Lok Adalats. Similarly, the litigants also do not co-operate
and appear unwilling to approach/appear in the Lok Adalats.
(b) The second challenge is a corollary to the first one. Majority of the
respondents were of the view that it is indeed a challenge to make the litigants,
public, Advocates and all the other stake-holders aware about the benefits of Lok
Adalats, to convince them to participate in it and to take benefit of the system, so
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much so that if the same is not done, definitely Lok Adalat is not going to be
successful.
(c) Another important challenge faced by the respondents is non-service of

Summons & Notices of cases posted in Lok Adalats, upon the litigants/parties. A
number of reasons are highlighted by the respondents for non-service of summons.
They are of the view that (i) shortage of staffs, (ii) use of traditional techniques of
service of summons, (iii) non-use of electronic gadgets and means of serving
summons and (iv) non-availability of sufficient time for the courts - are the prime
factors which hinder service of summons and ultimately affect the success of Lok
Adalats, adversely.
(d) The respondents were of the view that poor literacy rate of the State and factor
of motivation are big challenges, which the Officers face while taking up matters in
Lok Adalats.
The respondents showed mixed reaction to this question. Some of the

Respondents suggested the involvement of ‗Para-legal volunteers‘ (PLVs) and ‗Panel
Advocates‘ (PAs) to extend co-operation in Lok Adalat.
Some of the respondents suggested to hold National Lok Adalats on Quarterly basis
and some suggested for proper co-ordination between all the stake-holders to make
the system of Lok Adalat successful. There are also respondents who recommended
the frequency of Lok Adalats to be reduced and to organise Lok Adalats twice a year
or so. Some participants even though did not specify any given frequency of
organising Lok Adalat but suggested to maintain sufficient gap between two
consecutive Lok Adalats so that summons and Notices can be served upon the
parties in an effective manner.
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Another suggestion of the respondents was that Lok Adalats must be organised on
specific subjects instead of organising one Lok Adalat on different categories of cases
so as to keep proper statistics and to organise Lok Adalats more effectively.
Some respondents also suggested introduction of the SMS facility to send electronic
messages to parties regarding posting of their case in Lok Adalat.
Odisha
Involvement Level
Regularly
100
Figure 48 Regularity of Involvement in Lok Adalats- Odisha

in Lok Adalats with three options; Regularly, Sometimes and Rarely. All the
respondents in Odisha are regularly involved in Lok Adalats.
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35 33
30 27 27
25
Very Bad
20 Bad
15 13 Average
10 Good
5 Very Good
Figure 49 Adequacy of Time to Prepare for Lok Adalats- Odisha

ensuring efficient functioning of Lok Adalats. It is interesting to note that not a single
respondent rated the availability of time as ‗Very Good‘. Most of the respondents
rated the adequacy of time as Average, Bad or Very Bad.
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33
35
30 27
25 Very Bad
20
Bad
20
Average
13
15 Good
7 Very Good
10
Figure 50 Efficacy of the Existing System of Process Servers- Odisha
notices are served. A substantial majority (60%) of the respondents rated the existing
system to be Bad or Very Bad. Only 7% of the respondents rated the existing system
as ‗Very Good‘.
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60
53
50
40
40
Very Bad
Bad
30
Average
Good
20
Very Good
10 7
0 0
0

Odisha

and notices. An overwhelming majority of the respondents (93%) rated the
proposition as ‗Good‘ or ‗Very Good‘
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35 33
30
25
20 20 Very Bad
20
Bad
15 14 Average
13
Good
10 Very Good
Figure 52 Adequacy of Weightage for Lok Adalat Disposals- Odisha


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Only 34% of the respondent rated the existing quantitative weightage for Lok Adalat
disposals as Good or Very Good.

Disposals
33
Yes
67 No
Figure 53 Increasing Weightage of Lok Adalat Disposals- Odisha

increasing the existing quantitative weightage. A majority of the respondents (67%)
were in favour of increasing the existing weightage.
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20
20 Very Good
Good
20
Average
33 Bad
7 Very Bad
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Figure 54 Adequacy of Administrative Support- Odisha

the preparatory stage. 40% of the respondents rated the available administrative
support as Very Good or Good. An equal proportion of the respondents rated the
available support as Bad or Very Bad.
A large number of respondents replied that none of the cases should be removed
from the list. However some of the respondents gave important and valuable
suggestions on the removal of cases.
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One respondent from Odisha replied that withdrawal category (Cases which are
withdrawn by the Government under section 321 of CrPC) should be removed from
Lok Adalats. The respondent further suggested that the above cases can be
withdrawn by the Govt. on normal days of the court and there is no need for a Lok
Adalat for the same. The suggestion is good as it would lead to more focused
approach and sufficient time to cases which should be posted and disposed off in
Lok Adalat. As because the Lok Adalats involve both parties arriving at an amicable
settlement such cases should be avoided. However in the cases which are withdrawn
the accused persons are not given notice of the cases being dropped. The withdrawal
of GR cases through filing withdrawal petition by APP should be avoided, since the
informant and victim don't have given opportunity to consent for the same. Though
the accused are not prejudiced but still there is scope that the person against whom
the case was filed will wait till eternity for a notice from Court. Likewise on similar
lines another respondent replied that the withdrawal of GR cases and 2 (a)CC cases
in which the accused persons have not appeared or NBWs have been issued against
them for a reasonable period should be avoided, because it sends a bad message to
the society.
Another recommendation is that the Land Acquisition cases should be removed

from the category as hardly the administration takes any step or formulates any
principle to dispose of those cases in Lok Adalat. Further the same are not
technically Court cases and are revenue matters to be decided by land acquisition
officers unless there is a protest by the beneficiary which needs a full trial should not
be disposed off in Lok Adalats.
Another valid suggestion is removal of Bank matters from the list. The said
recommendation is valid as because except 138 NI matters which courts dispose off,
bank generally use the Lok Adalats for recovery of bank loans by using court process
rather than disposing old cases.

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Majority of the officers felt that the list was exhaustive and there is no need of
addition of cases. Many of the officers responded that there are no other categories
left to be included in the Lok Adalats. One suggestion was to include the plea
bargaining cases under Lok Adalats.
Most of the respondents stated that non attendance of the parties was a major
challenge along with lack of staff and infrastructure. They have stated that
appearance of parties is not compulsory and hence often one party arrives at the Lok
Adalat and the other avoids, it leads to loss of time of both the court and the party
who has dutifully attended the Court. The Attendance in the Lok Adalats should be
made compulsory in order to avoid such problem. Other than that, the respondents
reported that there was lack of cooperation from the advocates while disposing the
cases in the Lok Adalats. They have reported that the attitude of some of the
advocates towards Lok Adalats is negative and they discourage litigants who opt for
settlements through Lok Adalats.
The respondents have also cited that land acquisition authorities, Bank Officials,
electricity department, Water Department, Municipal department do not extend
necessary cooperation in the Lok Adalats. One of the respondents also reported that
banks do not extend any additional benefits to the litigants during the Lok Adalats.
They do not even reduce or waive off the penalty for default of loan repayment
making the whole exercise futile.
One of the respondents reported that the guidelines issued by the NALSA arrive a
day before the Lok Adalats are to be held and they have expressed their inability to
adhere to the guidelines and also do not dispose off cases which would have been
disposed off in view of the guidelines.
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Some of the other respondents have reported infrastructural problems such as

shortage of papers, summons and report lack of sufficient infrastructure for the Lok
Adalats. The respondents have also reported shortage of dedicated staff and
shortage of staff in general for the Lok Adalats. They have expressed the inability of
staff to devote more time in the Lok Adalat work due to other assignments in the
court.
Many of the respondents have reported that the frequency of Lok Adalats is much
more than necessary and this dilutes the gravity of the Lok Adalats. The parties take
it for granted and avoid it on the pretext that they will attend the next Lok Adalat.
Attendance in Lok Adalat not being compulsory and frequent Lok Adalats in view
of some respondents lead to lower disposal. Frequent Lok Adalats also mean court
have less time to identify records, send summons and prepare for the same. This
added with the fact that there is less manpower hinders the disposal of the case.
Many respondents have supported the view that there is lack of manpower for
compliance and other related work in the Lok Adalats. The increased frequency in
Lok Adalats means that there is less time to deliver the summons. Further due to
incorrect and incomplete addresses given by the investigating agencies summons do
not get delivered to the designated persons. The respondents wanted a considerable
gap between the lok Adalats so that sufficient time is available for the Lok Adalat
Work.
One of the respondent also reported that the mode of delivery of summons is old
and new methods should be adopted to serve the summons. The Respondents have
also there should be more awareness about the Lok Adalats and not only when and
where the Lok Adalats are conducted but rather why the Lok Adalats are conducted
and the benefits of the Lok Adalats.
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Many of the respondents stated that the number or frequency of the Lok Adalats
should be reduced. Many respondents have suggested that Lok Adalats should be
organized quarterly in a year with only one respondent expressed the desire that it
should conducted in every six months.
One of the respondents has stated that liability should be fixed on the erring
government officials and bank officials who do not willfully attend the Lok Adalat
and do not cooperate in the Lok Adalats. Another respondent on similar lines has
suggested that the attendance of the government officials should be made
compulsory. It ha also been suggested that the banks should give some special
discount for the Lok Adalats so that more number of cases are disposed off. The
same respondent has also given a valuable suggestion that procedure followed in
Lok Adalats should be followed on all days for the same category of cases which are
disposed off in Lok Adalats and should be a part of regular courts. It has also been
suggested that more units should be given for the disposal in Lok Adalats.
Another very useful suggestion is that a register should be maintained separately for
cases identified to be disposed off in Lok Adalats and those cases should be
separated from the other court cases. It has also been suggested that their institution,
pending and disposal figures should be separately submitted.
One of the respondents has given a suggestion that measures and reforms may be
undertaken to include payments by cards, e wallets and by online mode through
portals or links. Along with the same it has been suggested that kiosks should be
established where the litigants can be heard through video conferencing so as to save
additional cost of transport and administer justice at the door step. This would also
mean that they will not be exploited by advocates who do not favour disposal by
Lok Adalats.
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Another respondent has given the suggestion that a separate process serving wing
should be constituted for the Lok Adalats. Another useful suggestion has been made
that a provision must be made that the parties should at least appear once for the
Lok Adalat proceeding. It has also been suggested that notice through
sms/email/whatsaap should be considered sufficient.
Another respondent suggested that there should be no differentiation such as

district, state or national level Lok Adalats. The suggestion is good as the people of
do not understand the difference and instead one Lok Adalat should be held.
Another very valid and useful suggestion is that no topic wise Lok Adalat should be
held and all the cases coming under the list should be placed in any Lok Adalat. This
is a very good suggestion as NALSA fixes the Lok Adalat all over India on the same
date on same topic. However this might not be fruitful at all places because
pendency of the particular type of case would not be the same in all courts. Hence all
the types of cases should be posted in the lok Adalats and topic wise cases should be
avoided. Another suggestion by the respondent is sufficient publication and
advertisement through print and electronic media before sufficient time.
West Bengal
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Involvement Level
25
Regularly
50 Sometimes
Rarely
25
Figure 55 Regularity of Involvement in Lok Adalats- West Bengal

in Lok Adalats with three options; Regularly, Sometimes and Rarely.50% of the
respondents expressed regular familiarity with the working of Lok Adalats.
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60
50
50
40 Very Bad
Bad
30 25 25
Average
20
Good
10 Very Good
0 0
0
Figure 56 Adequacy of Time to Prepare for Lok Adalats- West Bengal

ensuring efficient functioning of Lok Adalats. Only 25% of the respondents rated the
available time as ‗Very Good‘.
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50
50
45
40
35 Very Bad
30 25 25 Bad
25 Average
20 Good
15 Very Good
10
5 0 0
0
Figure 57 Efficacy of the Existing System of Process Servers- West Bengal
notices are served.50% of the respondents rated the existing system as Good.
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80 75
70
60
50 Very Bad
Bad
40
Average
30 25 Good
Very Good
20
10
0 0 0
0

West Bengal

and notices. 75% of the respondents rated this proposition as Very Good and the
remaining 25% of the respondents rated the proposition as Good.
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60
50
50
40
Very Bad
Bad
30
25 25 Average
Good
20
Very Good
10
0 0
0
Figure 59 Adequacy of Weightage for Lok Adalat Disposals- West Bengal


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75% of the respondents rated the existing quantitative weightage as Average or Bad.

Disposals
0
Yes
No
100
Figure 60 Increasing Weightage of Lok Adalat Disposals- West Bengal

increasing the existing quantitative weightage. All respondents were in favour
increasing the quantitative weightage for Lok Adalat disposals.
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75 Very Good
Good
25
Average
0 Bad
0 Very Bad
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Figure 61 Adequacy of Administrative Support- West Bengal

the preparatory stage. 75% of the respondents rated the existing administrative
support as Good.
One suggestion was that ‗pre-litigation cases‘ must not form part of the Lok Adalat
system. The reason assigned for this was that these types of cases were mostly stage
managed.
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There was recommendation that ‗Civil Suits relating to Title‘, ‗Motor Accident Claim
Cases‘, ‗Land Acquisition Cases‘ and ‗Cheque Bounce cases‘ should be included in
the list of cases suitable for Lok Adalat. Respondents were of the opinion that these
types of cases normally included very small issues, but due to ignorance of law and
other impediments, the disputes get lingered for years together and if with proper
counselling, the parties were convinced to present the matter before the Lok Adalat,
a mutually satisfactory solution could certainly be arrived at.
Several factors were high-lighted by the respondents in relation to the challenges in

conducting Lok Adalats. The first factor/challenge was non-cooperation of
Advocates for disposal of their cases in Lok Adalat. To elaborate the same, the
respondents stated that the Advocates thought that if their cases were disposed of in
Lok Adalats, they would sustain professional loss. The second challenge faced by the
respondents as highlighted by them, was non-service of Summons & Notices of Lok
Adalat in time. The respondents reported that the success of Lok Adalat was
dependent upon the participation of the parties and unless and until the parties had
notice of the fact sufficiently ahead that their case was placed before the Lok Adalat,
they could not appear either in person or through their representative. Service of
notice was again dependent on the availability of sufficient infrastructure as well as
man-power and furthermore support of police administration was also necessary as
pointed out by the respondents. Another view that came out of the feed-back given
by the participating Officers was that before holding a Lok Adalat, the biggest
challenge they faced was to make a complete preparation for the same. It was
opined that preparation for Lok Adalat, inter-alia, included identification of suitable
cases and holding pre-Lok Adalat conciliation between the parties including
Lawyers so as to identify those cases in which successful settlement in Lok Adalat
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could be done. It was specifically highlighted by the respondents that in this pre-
Lok Adalat exercise, Advocates of the parties ought to be included.
There was recommendation to propose Government to enact specific law to make it

compulsory for all the Courts dealing with compoundable cases and other categories
of suitable cases to refer those cases to Lok Adalat for disposal. The second reform
recommended by the respondents related to publicity of Lok Adalats. It was
suggested that unless the benefits of Lok Adalats were made known to the general
public including the litigants, the desired success rate could not be achieved. As per
the Officers proposing this reform, a section of Judicial Officers working in the State
must be entrusted with the duty of spreading awareness of the Lok Adalat system,
bringing the parties to re-conciliation table and work out the modalities so that the
cases referred to Lok Adalat were actually disposed of in a fruitful manner instead of
getting placed for solution in the Lok Adalat, but ultimately getting rejected as
unsuccessful.
Critical Impressions from the Feedback
1. The manner in which Lok Adalats are planned and the time available to
judicial officers for effectively preparing for the Lok Adalats may be
reviewed. In all the states, a major segment of the respondents indicated lack
of sufficient time to prepare properly for Lok Adalats.
2. In all the states, the existing system of quantitative weightage for Lok Adalat
disposals may be revised. Majority of the respondents in all the states
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expressed dissatisfaction with the existing quantitative weightage for Lok

Adalat disposals and there was also a clear support to the idea of increasing
the quantitative weightage.
3. Serious consideration may be given to the proposition of introducing modern

technological tools to serve summons and notices. In all the states, an
overwhelming majority of the respondents were in favour of this proposition.
Majority of the respondents were deeply unsatisfied with the existing system
of serving processes.
4. The administrative support available for organising Lok Adalat may be

reviewed. While, there were positive feedbacks from Jharkhand and West
Bengal where the available administrative support was relatively more, a
significant segment of the respondents were not satisfied with the existing
administrative support.
5. At least one attendance by parties in Lok Adalat should be made compulsory.
6. Specific guidelines should be issued to the respective government agencies

whose cases are pending for disposal in the Lok Adalats.
7. Frequency of Lok Adalats should be reduced so as to have sufficient time for

preparation of Lok Adalats.
8. Subject specific Lok Adalats should be avoided and there should be more
involvement of the Para Legal volunteers and more awareness among the
masses about the Lok Adalats.
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Conclusion
As a theoretical construct, the scheme of Lok Adalats has immense potential to

facilitate an efficient, quick and amicable resolution of disputes. An institutionalised
approach to Lok Adalats can have significant ramifications on the manner in which
disputes are sought to be settled in a civilised society.
Lok Adalats are supposed to be less time consuming. Parties can take recourse to
Lok Adalat in order to get time bound justice as the procedure is fast-tracked. It is
cost effective. Since in the system of Lok Adalat parties are technically not required
to pay any chargeable fees and they are not even required to take the professional
assistance of Advocates, they end up in a comfortable situation where getting the
dispute resolved does not require to spend much. When a matter is decided in a Lok
Adalat, the cumbersome legal procedures are not followed. The Lok Adalat system
is primarily based on ‗Law of Equity‘ and does not require any clumsy paper work,
arguments, written notes, recording of evidence etc. to be done as a result of which
parties get their dispute resolved in a simplistic manner. The very system of Lok
Adalat aims at deciding disputes between the parties at the grassroots level. Because
of this philosophy, the Cases are identified in a given area and Lok Adalats are
conducted in that particular area whereby the litigants are not required to come to
Court covering much distance to get their dispute settled. Under this system, it is the
Court which goes to people to settle their dispute and in true sense deliver justice at
the door-step. The system ensures that there is no unnecessary intervention of
unauthorized persons/advocates/ touts/clerks in a pending litigation and allows
the litigants to directly settle their dispute in a judicial manner with their own
consent. As the name suggests Lok Adalat is the Court of the people where supreme
importance is given to the litigants. At no point of time they are threatened or
coerced to enter into any judicial settlement without their free and fair consent. The
system ensures that the litigants are given ample opportunity to represent
themselves in the Lok Adalat. It further makes it mandatory that only a lawful
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compromise between the parties or only a lawful admission of guilt is recorded in

Lok Adalat.
Despite these inherent benefits in the scheme of Lok Adalats, it is but obvious from
the research undertaken that the present system concerning Lok Adalats is far from
satisfactory. While specific recommendations have been outlined throughout the
report in relation to each State and a summary of such recommendations have been
provided at the end of this chapter, two significant general constraints can be
identified as the major impediment to a more efficient functioning of Lok Adalats;
one from the perspective of the judicial officers who conduct Lok Adalats and the
other from the perspective of the common people who are supposed to participate in
Lok Adalats.
Structuring Lok Adalats as Regular Duty of Judicial Officers
Firstly, the work concerning Lok Adalat is conceptualised essentially as an

additional responsibility for the judicial officers. It is not something which is
sufficiently integrated into their existing duties and responsibilities. There is a dire
need to structure Lok Adalat work as an integral part of the duties of judicial officers
and not as something which has to be done above and beyond other essential duties.
Normalising Lok Adalats as a Mode of Adjudication
Secondly, Lok Adalats must evolve as a regular mode of adjudicating disputes. In

other words, currently, Lok Adalats are perceived as an alternative mode or as an
irregular mode. Formal litigation is seen as the mainstream method and Lok Adalats
are structured as more of an irregular method. There is the need to normalise Lok
Adalats as a regular method of dispute adjudication. As long as it is perceived as
something irregular and offbeat, it would be difficult to ensure greater voluntary
participation by the litigants.
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General Recommendations
Based on the two constraints outlined above and also on the reformative measures
which have been suggested in relation to the identified states, certain general
principles regarding augmenting the efficacy of Lok Adalats can be ascertained.
These principles may be considered as conceptual guidelines for improving the
efficiency of Lok Adalats as a widely prevalent method for adjudication of disputes;
Planning of Lok Adalats

1. There should be systemic predictability in the schedule of Lok Adalats. The
frequency of Lok Adalats which are organised in the states should not
revolve around the frequency of National Lok Adalats which are organised
as per the initiative of the National Legal Services Authorities.
2. The scedule of Lok Adalats to be organised may be clearly determined at
the beginning of the year with specifics of dates and such other details as
may be necessary.
3. More effort may be dedicated toward popularising Mobile Lok Adalats as it
has the capacity to reach out to greater number of people.
Referral of Matters to Lok Adalats
1. Data should be maintained about the particular clauses of section 20 of the

National Legal Services Authorities Act under which cases have been referred
to Lok Adalats.
2. This data can help in identifying priority areas for popularising Lok Adalats
as an adjudicatory mechanism. Litigant behaviour in terms of the kind of
cases where they are preferring or avoiding Lok Adalats may be analysed and
appropriate steps may be taken.
3. Clear policy guidelines may be formulated to aid judicial officers in referring
cases to Lok Adalats at their own discretion. Appropriate guidelines may be
issued to judicial officers for prioritising certain categories for being referred
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to Lok Adalats depending on pendency figures and such other relevant

factors as may be deemed necessary from time to time.
Mainstreaming Lok Adalats
1. Lok Adalat work may be streamlined as part of regular judicial duties and not
structured as an additional burden on the time and energy of judicial officers.
2. Participation in Lok Adalat work may be recognised as a may be recognised
as a specific component in the annual performance assessment of judicial
officers.
3. While prescribing the norms regarding quantitative productivity of judicial
officers, weightage may specifically be assigned for conducting hearings
under different clauses of section 19 of the National Legal Services Authorities
Act.
4. As most Lok Adalats are held on Holidays, the incentive structure may
include non-financial components as well. Providing the judicial officers the
option of having one day of compensatory leave accrue to their benefit in lieu
of one day of salary may be considered.
Infrastructure and Human Resource
1. Positive effort may be made to provide adequate infrastructural support to

legal services authorities at various levels. This may include separate
buildings, sufficient space and adequate IT infrastructure.
2. The legal services authorities may also be provided with dedicated staff for
work concerning Lok Adalats with provisions for periodic training and
orientation.
3. Clear policy may be formulated for maximising the involvement of retired
judicial officers as it will provide robust manpower in Lok Adalat activities.
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4. Modern technological tools (SMS, e-mail) may be introduced to simply the

process of tracking case progress and for notifying litigants.
Summary of Recommendations for the Identified States
Bihar
5. There may be a pre-determined frequency in the organisation of periodic Lok
Adalats. Preferably, Lok Adalats maybe organised every month so as to
ensure systemic predictability. Also, the scheduling of periodic Lok Adalats
may not be dependent on the scheduling of National Lok Adalats. The
National Lok Adalats serve distinct function under the management of the
National Legal Services Authorities and the scheduling of state level Lok
Adalats should not be dependent on whether or not National Lok Adalats are
being organised in a particular month.
6. Record may be maintained as to the particular clauses of section 20 of the
to Lok Adalats.
7. Analysis may be undertaken on the basis of such catalouging of cases to
identify priority areas for popularising Lok Adalats as an adjudicatory
mechanism.
8. Appropriate guidelines may be issued to judicial officers for prioritising
certain categories for being referred to Lok Adalats depending on pendency
figures and such other relevant factors as may be deemed necessary from time
to time.
9. An effective strategy may be devised to ensure greater participation of retired
judicial officers in Lok Adalats. Greater involvement of judicial officers may
facilitate more strategic use of the available human resource and would also
alleviate the load on the existing judicial capacity.
10. The existing quantitative weightage for Lok Adalat disposals may be
reviewed so as to explore the possibility of increasing the weightage.
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11. Quantitative weightage may specifically be assigned for conducting hearings

Act.
12. Judicial officers involved in the organisation of Lok Adalats may be given the
choice of either accepting one day basic salary or have one day of
compensatory leave accrue to their benefit.
13. Performance in relation to Lok Adalats disposals may be recognised as a
specific component in the annual performance assessment of judicial officers.
15. Separate Buildings should be constructed for District Level Legal Services
Authorities and Taluk legal services committee along with IT Infrastructure.
16. Dedicated and sufficient staff should be provided at all levels and training
programmes for them should also be held to make them more efficient.
Jharkhand
1. Greater effort may be directed towards establishing Mobile Lok Adalats as a
regular and essential part of the Lok Adalat Scheme.
2. Mega Lok Adalats in all jurisdictions in the State, in the pattern of National
Lok Adalats, may be organised from time to time.
to Lok Adalats.
mechanism.
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to time.
Act.
compensatory leave or earned leave accrue to their benefit.
12. Separate Buildings should be constructed for District Legal Services
Authorities and Taluk legal services committee along with IT Infrastructure.
programmes for them should also be held to make them more efficient.
Odisha
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3. Preferably, Lok Adalats maybe organised every month so as to ensure

systemic predictability. The scheduling of periodic Lok Adalats may not be
dependent on the scheduling of National Lok Adalats. The National Lok
Adalats serve distinct function under the management of the National Legal
Services Authorities and the scheduling of state level Lok Adalats should not
be dependent on whether or not National Lok Adalats are being organised in
a particular month.
to Lok Adalats.
mechanism.
to time.
Act.
10. For having worked on a holiday, judicial officers may be paid one day of basic
salary not simply for National Lok Adalats, but for all Lok Adalats.
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14. Entirely new building should be constructed for State Legal Services
Authority and separate building for DLSA‘s wherever not present and Taluk
legal services committee along with IT Infrastructure.
programmes for them should be held to make them more efficient.
West Bengal
3. Permanent Lok Adalats as mandated under the provisions of the National
Legal Services Authorities Act may be established.
4. There may be a pre-determined frequency in the organisation of periodic Lok
Adalats. Preferably, Lok Adalats maybe organised every month so as to
ensure systemic predictability. Also, the scheduling of periodic Lok Adalats
may not be dependent on the scheduling of National Lok Adalats. The
National Lok Adalats serve distinct function under the management of the
National Legal Services Authorities and the scheduling of state level Lok
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Adalats should not be dependent on whether or not National Lok Adalats are
being organised in a particular month.
5. The practice of preparing detailed calendar outlining the tentative schedule of
activities may be institutionalised.
to Lok Adalats.
mechanism.
to time.
judicial officers in Lok Adalats held at district and taluk level as well. Greater
involvement of judicial officers may facilitate more strategic use of the
available human resource and would also alleviate the load on the existing
judicial capacity.
10. Specific quantitative weight age for Lok Adalat disposal may be specified.
11. Quantitative weight age may specifically be assigned for conducting hearings
Act.
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15. A new building should be constructed for State Legal Services Authority and
separate buildings for DLSA‘s and Taluk legal services committee along with
appropriate IT Infrastructure.
programmes for them should be held to make them more efficient.
181

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595

Mr. Loknath Mohapatra

Dr. Rangin Pallav Tripathy

Mr. Badri Narayan Nanda

Mr. Satya Prakash Raychoudhury

This report on Performance Evaluation and Promotion Schemes of Judicial Offices in

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following in preparation and

1. Dr. Suvendu Kumar Pati

Loknath Mohapatra is the Director of Odisha Judicial Academy.

Badri Narayan Nanda is the Deputy Director of Odisha Judicial Academy

Satya Prakash Raychoudhury is the Assistant Director of Odisha Judicial Academy

Table of Figures ................................................................................................................................ 6

Policy in West Bengal ............................................................................................................ 72

2. A statistical analysis of all the cases disposed of in the identified

The second chapter in the report is titled ‗Analysis of Policies concerning

1. Policy Regarding Infrastructure of State Legal Services Authorities

9. Policy Regarding Administrative Support

1. District wise, Case Type wise and Month wise Record

The chapter titled ‗Conclusions and Recommendations‘ is the final chapter

Structure of the State Specific Reports

Key Highlights of the Research Report

Comparison of Existing Policies

Identification of Best Practices

Specific Recommendations for

The broad objectives in the research were as following

Comparative Framework for Analysis of Functioning of Lok Adalats in the

Table 1- List of Identified States

1. Analysis of the Various Policies Concerning Lok Adalats

3. Feedback from Stakeholders

1. An assessment of the structural arrangements concerning the organizing of

1. Letter dated 09/01/2017 from Member Secretary, OSLSA regarding circulars

1. Letter dated 15/12/2016 from Member Secretary, BSLSA regarding policies

1. Letter dated 25/11/2016 from Member Secretary, JHALSA regarding Data on

1. Letter dated 23/11/2016 from Member Secretary, WBSLSA regarding data on

2. Mail dated 08/03/2018 with answers of the queries on different aspects of

History and Evolution of Lok Adalats

“There is no doubt that the system of justice which obtained today is

resolving disputes through the intervention, conciliation, mediation and counselling

An effective justice delivery mechanism is pivotal for maintaining a proper social

There is serious problem of overburdening of courts. To lessen the heavy burden on

History of Lok Adalats

During Vedic times, society was composed of ―patriarchal families‖. In those

Courts/ Judicial systems in Ancient Period similar to Lok- Adalats

Similarly, when we study Dharamastras and the Dharamasutràs, we find certain

(v) men learned in the four vedas,

Kinds of Courts similar to Lok Adalats In Ancient India

Courts similar to Lok Adalat in Medieval Period

gradation of the courts existed at the Capital, in Provinces, Districts, Paraganahas

Position of Courts in Muslim Rule similar to Lok Adalats

rulers traditionally enjoyed and occasionally exercised a general power of

Courts in British Period whose working was similar to Lok Adalats

rightful part in our democracy.35 Generally, Gandhiji compared Gram-Rajya to Ram

Revival of Nyaya Panchayat

(h) sundry minor offences. 38 Besides, nyaya panchayats were

Nyaya panchayats had powers to dismiss a plaint or application if there was no

There were several advantages of allowing general public participation in the

Further, the Legal Aid Committee constituted by Gujarat Government,

aid, by suitable legislation or schemes, or in any other way, to ensure that

Legislation Regarding Lok Adalats