Landmark session: Indian courts settle over 350,000 cases in a day
Lok Adalats seen as a powerful instrument to ensure justice.
Lok Adalats seen as a powerful instrument to ensure justice. PHOTO: FILE
Indian judges on Saturday settled over 350,000 of the 390,000 pending cases concerning accident claims, matrimonial disputes, dud cheques and traffic fines, among others, according to a report aired by New Delhi Television (NDTV).
The mammoth exercise was undertaken in the day-long National Lok Adalat, inaugurated by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and held simultaneously in the Supreme Court and state courts. This is the first time that cases were taken up simultaneously all over the country for settlement, NDTV reported.
Organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, the Lok Adalats took place in the apex court, all 24 high courts and all the district and sub-district courts of the country.
By the end of the session, some 35,10,390 cases were settled, figures released by the apex court said.
In the Supreme Court, out of the 107 cases that were taken up for amicable settlement by three courts, 51 cases were settled. Chief Justice Sathasivam had said that the main object of the adalat was to ensure speedy justice to litigants and make sure that there were no further appeals.
The chief justice urged the presiding judges to ensure that parties to the settlement of the cases are not intimidated or compromised while arriving at a settlement. NALSA chairman Justice G.S. Singhvi, who had initiated the move, said: “Lok Adalats or mediation is one of the most powerful instruments in speedy justice, which conforms to the goals of the preamble of the constitution.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2013.