Lok Adalats are most effective mode of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism in arresting the mounting arrears of the Courts including High Courts

New Delhi : Steps taken by Legal Services Authorities to promote e-Lok Adalats include – Standard Operating Procedure for conduct of e-Lok Adalat, Technical training through System officers to the Court Staff, Whatsapp groups for litigants, advocates and respondents for conveying them relevant information/ link for attending e-Lok Adalats and Video conferencing link and cause list displayed on the website of the District Courts.

Lok Adalat is not a permanent establishment and is organised at such intervals as felt required with a view to reduce pendency of cases in courts and settle disputes at pre-litigation stage. During the covid pandemic, the Legal Services Authorities under the aegis of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) ingeniously integrated technology to move Lok Adalat on to the virtual platform, better known as e-Lok Adalats. Since e-Lok Adalats are organized simultaneously with regular Lok Adalats, benches are constituted on the basis of volume of cases referred by various courts or tribunals and institutions for pre-litigation cases.

The first e-Lok Adalat was held in Madhya Pradesh on 27.06.2020. The detail of e-Lok Adalats organized from June, 2020 to June, 2022 in 28 States/UTs including Maharashtra is at Annexure-A.

The Lok Adalats are most effective mode of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism in arresting the mounting arrears of the Courts including High Courts. 38.36 lakh pre-litigation cases and 8.34 lakh pending cases in Courts have been disposed of by e-Lok Adalats during June, 2020 to June, 2022.

Annexure-A

S. No.

Name of the State Authority

Pre-Litigation Cases

Pending Cases in Courts

Total

Taken Up

Disposal

Taken Up

Disposal

Taken Up

Disposal

1

Andhra Pradesh

659

212

22,058

15,486

22,717

15,698

2

Arunachal Pradesh

141

18

67

23

208

41

3

Bihar

58,182

17,469

9,023

3,078

67,205

20,547

4

Chhattisgarh

13,052

7,739

13,443

8,138

26,495

15,877

5

Goa

0

0

170

65

170

65

6

Gujarat

46,189

3,521

37,738

20,945

83,927

24,466

7

Haryana

3,755

3,625

9,565

4,985

13,320

8,610

8

Himachal Pradesh

130

59

416

244

546

303

9

Jammu & Kashmir

2,281

1,575

8,923

6,291

11,204

7,866

10

Jharkhand

1,81,033

1,17,468

58,832

37,411

2,39,865

1,54,879

11

Karnataka

20,558

11,885

2,98,476

1,73,188

3,19,034

1,85,073

12

Kerala

3,985

986

35,541

25,271

39,526

26,257

13

Madhya Pradesh

3,661

312

36,592

8,385

40,253

8,697

14

Maharashtra

1,57,34,249

35,13,112

16,67,214

3,45,445

1,74,01,463

38,58,557

15

Manipur

881

738

172

91

1,053

829

16

Meghalaya

133

33

25

8

158

41

17

Mizoram

1,856

283

168

47

2,024

330

18

Odisha

23,806

1,143

24,272

4,236

48,078

5,379

19

Punjab

5,327

536

9,387

6,639

14,714

7,175

20

Rajasthan

36,725

6,438

57,865

29,674

94,590

36,112

21

Sikkim

877

241

198

55

1,075

296

22

Telangana

887

862

12,450

10,408

13,337

11,270

23

Tripura

2,350

505

1,472

169

3,822

674

24

Uttar Pradesh

2,01,350

1,33,924

62,972

39,738

2,64,322

1,73,662

25

Uttarakhand

3,591

408

12,168

4,210

15,759

4,618

26

West Bengal

15,654

1,924

11,867

8,777

27,521

10,701

27

Chandigarh

0

0

70

12

70

12

28

Delhi

14,439

11515

95,489

81,964

1,09,928

93,479

Grand Total

1,63,75,751

38,36,531

24,86,633

8,34,983

1,88,62,384

46,71,514

 

This information was given by the Minister for Law and Justice, Shri Kiren Rijiju in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.