Fourth National Lok Adalat of year resolves 1.17 crore cases

PTI, Dec 9, 2023, 8:07 PM IST

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In the year’s fourth National Lok Adalat, 1.17 crore cases — including more than 11.98 lakh pending ones — have been resolved, saving time, money and resources for litigants and the judicial system.

The National Lok Adalat was organised by the legal service authorities under the aegis of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) in 34 states and Union Territories.

”The resolution of cases at Lok Adalats allows litigants to avoid costs and delays associated with the courts-based justice system and reduces case pendency of the courts,” NALSA said.

NALSA Executive Chairman Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said swift resolution of cases at Lok Adalats will alleviate the immense pressure on the court system, allowing judges to dedicate their valuable time and resources to more complex and urgent issues.

Due to administrative reasons, the fourth National Lok Adalat of 2023 will be held in Delhi on Sunday, Chhattisgarh on December 16 and Telangana on December 30, according to the statement released by NALSA.

”As per the information received from the state legal services authorities across the country as of 6.00 pm — 1,17,43,465 (1.17 crore) cases were resolved at the fourth National Lok Adalat on December 9, 2023, including 11,98,278 (11.98 lakh) pending cases and 1,05,45,187 (1.05 crore) pre-litigation cases,” it said. ”The approximate value of the total settlement amount in these cases was Rs 20,510 crore,” the authority added.

NALSA added that these figures will increase further by Sunday based on updated reports to be received from the state legal services authorities.

”In this Lok Adalat, cases involving compoundable offences, revenue cases, bank recovery cases, motor accident claims, cheque bounce cases, labour disputes, matrimonial disputes (except divorce cases), and other civil cases were taken up,” it said.

The authority further added that a large number of recovery matters related to financial institutions, banks, government bodies and private service providers were also taken up as pre-litigation cases and settled.