SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY,

PUNE

REPORT ON LOK ADALAT VISIT ON 13TH AUGUST 2016

Supervised By:

Submitted By:

Prof. Shirish D. Kulkarni

Shristi Shetty
LL.B(FIFTH SEMESTER)
PRN-14010122040

Subject: ALTERNATE DISPUTE RESOLUTION SYSTEM (CLINICAL

COURSE)

LL.B 3rd year (Three Year) {2014-2017}

Symbiosis Law School, Pune

INTRODUCTION
Lok Adalat, the word is self explanatory. Lok stands for People and Adalat means Court. Lok
Adalat thus means, Peoples Court. The concept of Lok Adalat is innovative in the sense that it
provides justice to people in a speedy way. The introduction of Lok Adalats added a new chapter
to the justice dispensation system of this country and succeeded in providing a supplementary
forum to the victims for satisfactory settlement of their disputes. It is one of the components of
ADR systems. In ancient times the disputes were used to be referred to panchayat which were
established at village level. Panchayats used to resolve the dispute through arbitration. It has
proved to be a very effective alternative to litigation. This very concept of settlement of dispute
through mediation, negotiation or through arbitral process known as decision of "NyayaPanchayat" is conceptualized and institutionalized in the philosophy of Lok Adalat. It involves
people who are directly or indirectly affected by dispute resolution.
The concept of Lok Adalats was pushed back into oblivion in last few centuries before
independence and particularly during the British regime. Now, this concept has, once again, been
rejuvenated. It has, once again, become very popular and familiar amongst litigants. This is the
system which has deep roots in Indian legal history and its close allegiance to the culture and
perception of justice in Indian ethos. Experience has shown that it is one of the very efficient and
important ADRs and most suited to the Indian environment, culture and societal interests. Camps
of Lok Adalats were started initially in Gujarat in March 1982 and now it has been extended
throughout the Country.
The evolution of this movement was a part of the strategy to relieve heavy burden on the Courts
with pending cases and to give relief to the litigants who were in a queue to get justice. The first
Lok Adalat was held on March 14, 1982 at Junagarh in Gujarat the land of Mahatma Gandhi.
Maharashtra commenced the Lok Nyayalaya in 1984. Lok Adalats have been very successful in
settlement of motor accident claim cases, matrimonial/family disputes, labour disputes, disputes
relating to public services such as telephone, electricity, bank recovery cases and so on.
Some statistics may give us a feeling of tremendous satisfaction and encouragement. Up to the
middle of last year (2004), more than 200,000 Lok Adalats have been held and therein more than16
million cases have been settled, half of which were motor accident claim cases. More than one

billion US dollars were distributed by way of compensation to those who had suffered accidents.
6.7 million persons have benefited through legal aid and advice.
The advent of Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 gave a statutory status to Lok Adalats, pursuant
to the constitutional mandate in Article 39-A of the Constitution of India, contains various
provisions for settlement of disputes through Lok Adalat. It is an Act to constitute legal services
authorities to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society to
ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic
or other disabilities, and to organize Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system
promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity. Even before the enforcement of the Act, the
concept of Lok Adalat has been getting wide acceptance as People's Courts as the very name
signifies. Settlement of disputes at the hands of Panchayat Heads or tribal heads was in vogue since
ancient times. When statutory recognition had been given to Lok Adalat, it was specifically
provided that the award passed by the Lok Adalat formulating the terms of compromise will have
the force of decree of a court which can be executed as a civil court decree. The evolution of
movement called Lok Adalat was a part of the strategy to relieve heavy burden on the Courts with
pending cases and to give relief to the litigants who were in a queue to get justice. It contains
various provisions for settlement of disputes through Lok Adalat. It is an Act to constitute legal
services authorities to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the
society to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of
economic or other disabilities, and to organize Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal
system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity.
We the student of 3rd year of Three year LLB were given an opportunity to experience the Lok
Adalat at the district court, Pune on Saturday, 13th August 2016 which was organized by the
Symbiosis Law School, Pune
As we are studying the clinical course on Alternative Dispute Resolutions as a part of 5th Semester
at our law school this visit was really helpful and has widened our knowledge when it comes to
the settlement of disputes through Arbitration, Conciliation Lok Adalat and Mediation.
We were taken to Lok Adalat on 13th august. A certain number of guidelines were given to all the
students from the batch with respect to code of conduct and dress code to all the students and we

had to assemble at the college campus at 8:30 am so that we can leave for the District court with
the help of travel arrangements which were already done by the SLS

OBSERVATION IN PANEL 6 of LOK ADALAT

Almost everyone participated in the Lok Adalat visit. We reached District Court, Pune and we
assembled outside Ashoka Hall where we were divided into groups. Each group consisted of five
to six students and each group were allotted Court Room numbers. Among the group, students
well versed with Marathi language were made translators to overcome the language barrier issue
for other non-marathi speaking students.
We then proceeded towards the building and were taken to the Supervisor of the Lok Adalats
chamber. He very pleasingly greeted us and imparted his agglomerated knowledge considering
him being closely associated with Lok Adalat since years. He explained us the need and
significance looking at the plight of judicial system and also how efficient Pune Lok Adalat is as
compared to other Lok Adalats in the country. He then told us there were six panels and each
group were assigned to each panel respectively to observe the proceedings. It included cases
including Motor vehicle act, pre- litigation and civil and criminal matter compoundable in nature.
My group headed towards Panel no 6 which dealt with various loan cases. This Court room took
matters of Banks including Citi Bank, Axis Bank, Jan Lakshmi Finance, Phoenix Arc, Dena Bank,
Allahabad Bank, Indian Overseas Bank. Right after we entered our group was asked to take a seat
quickly near the judge. Prof Chaitrali Maam requested Judge Vaibhav Gudve Patil to explain the
proceedings in Hindi since most of us were not acquainted with Marathi language. We had the
opportunity to witness six cases. The panel consisted of Judge Gudve Patil, Advocate Amit Thite
and Advocate Ujjwala Thorat.
First case was between Rahul Dividas Jhadhav and Citi Bank (Pre-Litigation number 87 of 2016)
In this case Rahul Dividas Jhadhav, the customer had taken a loan from Citi Bank and failed to
pay his installments. Thus Citi Bank has knocked the doors of Lok Adalat. It was settled for Rs
67,000 to be paid in six installments i.e. Rs. 11,000 monthly from August 2016 to January 2017.
This case was settled in few minutes and next parties took a seat. Next matter was between Desiree
Alex and Citi Bank. In this case, the customer availed credit card facility and defaulted in

repayment. The award was passed and settled at Rs. 20,000 to be paid in four monthly installments
from August to November 2016 i.e. Rs 5000 each.
Next matter was between Imran Sheikh and Citi Bank. In this case customer owed Citi bank Rs.
1,43,295.09 It was similar to the previous matter wherein the customer defaulted in repayment
after availing credit card facility. It was settled for Rs. 80,000 in eight monthly installments starting
from 2nd September to 2nd April 2017 by internet banking.
Fourth matter was between Pradnya Kurdekar and Axis Bank. Customer owed Axis Bank Rs.
9,29,712.31. And the award was passed and settled for Rs. 1,80,000 to be paid in three installments
. The first installment was of Rs. 1,50,000 and the next two of Rs. 15000 respectively.
Fifth matter dealt with default in personal loan between Girish Kulkarni and Dena Bank. In this
case, the customer owed Dena Bank Rs. 3,00,000 and the award was passed and settled at Rs.
44,589 in two installments of Rs. 22,294.5 starting from 5th September to 5th October 2016
Last matter we observed was a matter dealing with loan default. This case involved two parties
Kishore Bhujangthi Igale and Axis Bank. Customer owed Rs. 1,77,000 because of loan default.
The award was passed and settled at Rs. 17078 in one installment.
After each matter Judge Patil showed us the award passed. The award was passed in the Lok nyalay
award format. We were still questioning more about the procedure but due to shortage of time we
stopped and headed to Panel 1 of the Lok Adalat where all other groups had already taken a seat.
This panel dealt with Motor Vehicles accidents where the matters with regard to the Motor Vehicle
were discussed by Justice Mohammad Rizwan (Civil Judge Senior Division) and he addressed the
gathering that most of the cases were solved and settled in one sitting only then we were also told
about the importance of the Lok Adalat its advantages and its need which is already discussed
above.
One of the case which was discussed by Justice Mohammad Rizwan was about a lady who had
filed a case for divorce at the age of 30 but since the case was going at a slow pace it took
approximately 7 years to frame the issues but by this time this women denied anything from the
court and the reason being that at the age of 30 she could have married someone else but at the age
of 37 the scope of getting married is low.. So this was one of the cases which hit Justice Mohammad

Rizwan and he had an idea that there should be some mechanism in the justice system that should
deliver justice at a fast pace. As told to us Justice Mohammad was one of the persons who were
involved in the formulating of Lok Adalat in India. So cases like this where the judgments should
be delivered at a faster pace Lok Adalats were set up u/s 89 of CPC.
We were also told about an exceptional case where the case which was registered under section
498A was referred to the Lok Adalat by Justice Kabir who was the Former Chief Justice. This case
was and non compoundable case but it was still referred to Lok Adalat on the basis of the facts of
the case.
The one line that struck in my head during the visit said by Justice Mohammad is To be a
successful lawyer read faces more than books
Hrishikesh Sir also addressed us and enlightened us more on motor vehicle accidents cases. He
explained us that motor vehicle accident claims can be divided in two. Firstly being Injury claims
and secondly Death claims. For a lawyer he explained few points to be taken note of:
First , anatomy is a must.
Second, Find the exact cause of death.
Third, Value of the body part. Like importance of that body part to the victim in a
way which puts a bar on the victims income generation as well. For example : M.F
Hussain, artist, losing his hands is more grieving as compared to a normal person
losing his hand. In this way, lawyer should fight for higher amount of claims.
Fourth, Age parameter. Victim who is young and has a whole life ahead of him and
has to support his family is a factor considered for the claim. Since the whole family
is dependent on that person. In this case, higher claim should be asked by the
lawyer.
And lastly , pecuniary damages and non -pecuniary damages should be considered.
After all this Our Faculty Incharge for the subject of ADRS Prof Shirish D. Kulkarni gave a vote
of thanks to the present eminent Judges and Advocates on behalf of the Director, SLS and thanked
the students of Symbiosis Law School, Pune to actively Participate in the Lok Adalat which was
organized by the college for the students.

Legislative and Judicial Contribution under Indian Law

Legislative contribution of Lok Adalats under Indian law :

It is provided a statutory status through the "The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987"
enactment. This act contains various provisions for settlement of disputes through Lok Adalat and
Permanent Lok Adalat.
The Constitution of India also encourages and forms an obligation to establish Lok Adalat
system under Aricle 39A The purpose behind this was to quicken the process of justice, to provide
access to justice for economically backward segments of the society and thus to ensure that
operation of legal system promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity.
Recently, the Code of Civil Procedure has been Amended in 2002 so as to provide for settlement
of disputes outside the Court by way of arbitration, conciliation, mediation and judicial
settlement including settlement through Lok Adalat, when the Court is prima satisfied that, there
are chances of settlement or the matter is appropriate one to be taken cognizance by Lok Adalat
The Civil Procedure Code, 1908 has also recognized the rights of parties to affect compromise
and withdraw from the suit under Order-23, Rule-3. While Order-32A, Rule-3(2) provides that
if in any suit or proceedings, at any stage, the Court finds the possibility of settlement, may adjourn
such proceedings for a reasonable length of time to enable the attempts to be made to effect such
an amicable settlement. Besides, as per Rules-1A, 1B, 1C to Order-10, after a suit is filed, the
Court can direct the parties to opt for any of the methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution as
stated above.
Thus, the statutory recognition of settlement of disputes through Lok Adalat under Section-89 of
Civil Procedure Code has certainly added color and majesty to our legal system and increased a
sense of confidence in public mind.
Besides this, Section-320 of the Code of Criminal Procedural provides a long list of
compoundable offences, e.g.:- Assault, Trespass etc., which fall within the purview of jurisdiction
of Lok Adalat to be settled or arrived at compromise by it.

Judicial contribution of Lok Adalat in India

Objective of Lok Adalat is to settle the disputes which are pending before the courts in a speedy
way by negotiations, conciliation and by adopting persuasive commonsense and humane approach
to the problems of the disputants.
The large population of India and the illiterate masses have found the regular dispensation of
justice through regular courts very cumbersome and ineffective. The Lok Adalat movement is no
more an experiment in India. It is now a success and but needs to be replicated in certain matters.
As aforesaid in the objective of the Lok Adalats, the intention of the legislator has been to put an
end to the disputes summarily and reduce the burden of the courts. Therefore, the Lok Adalats
decide the matters on a consent/ compromise basis. The Lok Adalat passes the award after the
parties have agreed on the settlement and have given consent over it.
The Lok Adalat will passes the award with the consent of the parties, therefore there is no need
either to reconsider or review the matter again and again, as the award passed by the Lok Adalat
shall be final.
Even as under Section 96 of C.P.C. that "no appeal shall lie from a decree passed by the Court
with the consent of the parties". The award of the Lok Adalat is an order by the Lok Adalat under
the consent of the parties, and it shall be deemed to be a decree of the Civil Court, therefore an
appeal shall not lie from the award of the Lok Adalat as under Section 96 C.P.C.
In Punjab National Bank v. Lakshmichand Rai the High Court held that "The provisions of the
Act shall prevail in the matter of filing an appeal and an appeal would not lie under the provisions
of Section 96 C.P.C. Lok Adalat is conducted under an independent enactment and once the award
is made by Lok Adalat the right of appeal shall be governed by the provisions of the Legal Services
Authorities Act when it has been specifically barred under Provisions of Section 21(2), no appeal
can be filed against the award under Section 96 C.P.C." The Court further stated that "It may
incidentally be further seen that even the Code of Civil Procedure does not provide for an appeal
under Section 96 against a consent decree. The Code of Civil Procedure also intends that once a
consent decree is passed by Civil Court finality is attached to it. Such finality cannot be permitted
to be destroyed, particularly under the Legal Services Authorities Act, as it would amount to defeat

the very aim and object of the Act with which it has been enacted, hence, we hold that the appeal
filed is not maintainable.
The High Court of Andhra Pradesh held that, in Board of Trustees of the Port of Visakhapatnam
v. Presiding Officer, Permanent, Lok Adalat-c` The award is enforceable as a decree and it is
final. The endeavour is only to see that the disputes are narrowed down and make the final
settlement so that the parties are not again driven to further litigation or any dispute. Though the
award of a Lok Adalat is not a result of a contest on merits just as a regular suit by a Court on a
regular suit by a Court on a regular trial, however, it is as equal and on par with a decree on
compromise and will have the same binding effect and conclusive just as the decree passed on the
compromises cannot be challenged in a regular appeal.
"The truth is, a judgment by consent is intended to put a stop to litigation between the parties just
as much as is a judgment which results from the decision of the Court after the matter has been
fought out to the end. And I think it would be very mischievous if one were not to give a fair and
reasonable interpretation to such judgments, and were to allow questions that were really involved
in the action to be fought over again in a subsequent action."
The likelihood of such events cannot be ruled out. In Mansukhlal Vithaldas Chauhan v. State of
Gujarat, it was held that; The duty of the Court is to confine itself to the question of legality. Its
concern should be, (i) whether the decision-making authority exceeded its powers?; (ii) committed
an error of law; (iii) committed a breach of the rules of natural justice; (iv) reached a decision
which no reasonable Tribunal would have reached; or (v) abused its powers. In the case on hand
the Lok Adalat exceeded its powers, committed an error of law, committed breach of the rules of
natural justice and abused its powers. Even if this Court were to strictly confine itself to the
question of legality, the impugned order cannot still be tolerated as it suffers from all the foibles
that justify interference under Article 226 of the Constitution.
The Karnataka State Bar Council was opposed to the section in the Act which said if one party
approached the permanent Lok Adalat, the other party had no option but to participate in the
litigation. This was opposed to the canons of justice, the lawyers said. "The right of judicial review
or appeal is fundamental in all legal matters and making the decision of the permanent Lok Adalats

final, without the right of appeal, will vest unrestricted power in the hands of a tribunal in which
two non-officials can dominate... it will impair the administration of justice,'' they said.
In Election Commission of India v. Union of India and Ors., the Apex Court while dealing with
the powers of the Court under the Constitution to interfere with an order passed by the Election
Commission, laid down: "There are no unreviewable discretions under the constitutional
dispensation. The overall constitutional function to ensure that constitutional authorities function
within the sphere of their respective constitutional authority is that of the Courts". The enunciation
by the Apex Court making even an order by a constitutional authority reviewable should leave no
doubt in any one's mind that a discretion exercised by a statutory authority would be well-within
the review able discretion of this Court.

Benefits of Lok Adalat

The benefits that litigants derive through the Lok Adalats are many. First, there is no court fee and
even if the case is already filed in the regular court, the fee paid will be refunded if the dispute is
settled at the Lok Adalat.
Secondly, there is no strict application of the procedural laws and the Evidence Act while assessing
the merits of the claim by the Lok Adalat. The parties to the disputes though represented by their
advocate can interact with the Lok Adalat judge directly and explain their stand in the dispute and
the reasons therefore, which is not possible in a regular court of law.
Thirdly, disputes can be brought before the Lok Adalat directly instead of going to a regular court
first and then to the Lok Adalat. Fourthly, the decision of the Lok Adalat is binding on the parties
to the dispute and its order is capable of execution through legal process. No appeal lies against
the order of the Lok Adalat 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 settlement of the
dispute finally. The reason being that 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. In every respect the scheme
of Lok Adalat is a boon to the litigant public, where they can get their disputes settled fast and free
of cost.

Last but not the least, faster and inexpensive remedy with legal status. The system has received
laurels from the parties involved in particular and the public and the legal functionaries, in general.
It also helps in emergence of jurisprudence of peace in the larger interest of justice and wider
sections of society. 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 mechanism,
disputes can be settled in a simpler, quicker and cost-effective way at all the three stages i.e. prelitigation, pending-litigation and post-litigation.

CONCLUSION
Through my visit I can affirm that Lok Adalat is basically for the welfare and interest of people .
The eye catching element in the Lok Adalat system is that it really lies in arriving at amicable,
immediate, consensual and peaceful settlement of disputes. It will go a long way in strengthening
our diverse, democratic values and Rule of Law.
It serves very crucial functions in India due to many factors like pending cases, illiteracy etc. The
Lok Adalat was a historic necessity where illiteracy dominated about all aspects of governance.
The most desired function of Lok Adalats may seem to be clearing the backlog, with the latest
report showing 3 crore pending cases in Indian courts but the other functions cannot be ignored.
The concept of Lok Adalat has been a success in practice.
Lok Adalats play a very important role to advance and strengthen equal access to justice, the
heart of the Constitution of India, a reality. This Indian contribution to world ADR jurisprudence
needs to be taken full advantage of Maximum number of Lok Adalats need to be organized to
achieve the Gandhian Principle of Gram Swaraj and access to justice for all.
During the last few years Lok Adalat has been found to be a successful tool of alternate dispute
resolution in India. It is most popular and effective because of its innovative nature and inexpensive
style. The system received wide acceptance not only from the litigants, but from the public and
legal functionaries in general.
In conclusion, it could be seen that all modes have their own significance but Lok Adalat is unique
as it is cheap, time saving , easily available to common people, finality of decision taken by the
parties. Hence, it is therefore concluded that the litigants must be made aware of the concept and
benefits of advantages, this is the foremost difficulty to be tackle for effective implementation of
Lok Adalat process.
Therefore, it may be concluded that the system of Lok Adalat and giving free legal aid to eligible
persons is a very noble one which has helped judiciary not only in speedy disposal of cases but has
given some relief to the litigant, particularly to them who are poor and cannot afford to claim their
right through court of law.
I on behalf of the students of 3rd year of 3yrs L.L.B course of Symbiosis Law School, Pune am
grateful to the Director of the college Dr. Shashikala Gurpur , Deputy Director Dr Bindu Ronald

and our Faculty in charge Prof. Shirish D. Kulkarni for organizing such an informative and a
knowledgeable field visit and we are looking forward for many such other visits for the students.