“Lok Adalats promote a culture of reconciliation, should not be looked at as a means to reduce burden on courts”, Justice (Retd.) R Basant

The National Lok Adalat will be held across the country from the Supreme Court to the District courts tomorrow. This is as per the approval of the Supreme Court Judge Justice GS Singhvi, who is also the Executive Chairman of National Legal Services Authority..According to this report, around 19 lakh cases have been listed for settlement in all the courts, from the Supreme Court to lower courts, with the consent of the litigants for settlement..Lok Adalats which are organised by different Legal Services Committees in accordance with the powers under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, seek to settle disputes between parties through friendly reconciliation process. For the parties to the dispute, it offers a much faster and cheaper grievance redressal mechanism without having to go through the procedural hassles of court litigation..Supreme Court lawyer and retired High Court judge Justice R Basant spoke to Bar & Bench on the significance of Lok Adalats. This is what he had to say:.“There are some glaring inadequacies in our court system; one is that justice is not expeditious, secondly justice is expensive, thirdly the rules of the game are very complicated and last of all, in litigation there is always a winner and a vanquished at the end. Lok Adalat addresses these issues effectively and I am all for it.”.Lok Adalats also seek to reduce the workload on the overburdened courts. The decision arrived at by the Lok Adalat would be final and binding and no appeal would lie against such decision. To facilitate settlements, pre-Lok Adalat sittings have also been organised..When asked about its role in easing the pressure on courts, Justice Basant said that,.“I don’t think we should look at it as an obesity shedding mechanism. Quality of settlement is much more important than the quantity of settlement. Lok Adalats promote a culture of reconciliation and encourages a party to step into the other party’s shoes and view the case from his perspective. I believe that only 30 per cent of the disputes which reach the courts merit the consideration of the courts; rest can be settled outside the courts. Lok Adalats help promote that line of thought among the people, one of reconciliation and not confrontation. So looking at it as a means to reduce burden on courts is, in my opinion, a myopic view.” .Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam will inaugurate the Lok Adalat tomorrow. Video conferencing facilities have been arranged all over the country to view the same..The Supreme Court itself will have 3 Benches sitting for the Lok Adalat to adjudicate 107 cases. Chief Justice P Sathavisam, Justice RM Lodha and Justice KS Radhakrishnan will sit in Court room 1, Justice AK Patnaik and Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla will sit in Court room 2 while Justices Ranjana Prakash Desai and Madan B Lokur will preside over Court room 3..About having Lok Adalats in the higher courts, Justice Basant said that,.“Supreme Court is a forum for laying down law and not for lis resolution between parties. Supreme Court has become a lis resolution forum which I think should not be the case. However, I am all for Lok Adalat, but I believe it should happen at the grass root level.”.Main image taken from here.Image of Justice Basant taken from here