All 52 Courts in district crowded with litigants, advocates; roads, parking spaces chock-a-block

Mysore/Mysuru: With all the Government offices and Banks closed on account of Fourth Saturday, litigants queued up in front of all the 52 Courts in city and district in an attempt to solve their long-pending legal disputes in the Mega Lok Adalat that was held in city this morning. 

The City and District Law Court Complex on Krishnaraja Boulevard and at Jayanagar (Malalawadi) Court Complex and also at all the Benches in all Taluk Courts of the district were jam-packed with litigants, advocates, arbitrators and the cases were decided by a team of Judges under the leadership of Principal District and Sessions Judge Ramachandra D. Huddar. 

In city, the Lok Adalat was organised at all the 45-odd Courts by District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) as part of a State-wide exercise. Over 1.1 lakh cases are pending in the district of which 84,785 cases are fit for amicable settlement. 

Of the 84,785 cases, 24,951 are identified to be settled in today’s Lok Adalat. It will go on till the evening and is expected to settle at least 15,000 cases. As the hearings were on, the exact number of cases settled will be known only by evening.

Hundreds of litigants had gathered in front of various Lok Adalat Benches and the parking spaces inside the Court Complexes and the outside road was chock-a-block with cars, SUVs and two-wheelers. 

Arbitration of cases helps in saving money and time for litigant public. It would also reduce the burden on Courts. Apart from Ramachandra Huddar, who is also DLSA Chairman, Judges Vijayan, Sudhir Shetty, Virupaksha, Manjunath, Saraswathi and other Judges heard the litigants of rival parties and settled the cases. 

Types of cases

Disputes including cheque bounce, Bank loan and property recoveries, civil and civic issues with Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), employment issues at companies, factories and industries, criminal cases that can be compromised, family disputes, divorce cases, child custody rights cases, payment of alimony by husbands to wives, motor vehicles cases, pension cases, electricity and water bill disputes, land acquisition and revenue disputes, house and property rent and lease disputes and other cases were heard at the Lok Adalat today. However, cases of heinous nature such as rape or murder do not qualify for such settlements.

Panel of Judges

Each panel of Lok Adalat was headed by Judges, Judicial Officers with advocates and social workers as its members assisted by law students. There is no Court fee payable when a matter is filed in a Lok Adalat. If a matter pending in the Court of law is referred to the Lok Adalat and is settled subsequently, the Court fee originally paid in the Court on the complaints/ petition is also refunded back to the parties.

Lok Adalat is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms and it is a forum where disputes/ cases pending in the Court of law or at pre-litigation stage are settled/ compromised amicably. Lok Adalats have been given statutory status  under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

Under the Act, the award (decision) made by the Lok Adalats is deemed to be a decree of a Civil Court and is final and binding on all parties and no appeal against such an award lies before any Court of law. 

Most of the issues settled at Lok Adalats are satisfactory to the litigants as the disputes are amicably settled through arbitration. If the parties are not satisfied with the award of the Lok Adalat (though there is no provision for an appeal against such an award), they are free to initiate litigation by approaching the Court of appropriate jurisdiction.