Question

What is meant by a Lok Adalat? How do the Lok Adalats function?

Answer 1

Hint: Lok Adalat is India's official judicial forum for alternative dispute resolution which functions to resolve pending cases from the panchayat (elected village council) or the pre-trial stage in court. Lok Adalats is a traditional Indian method of relieving the burden of the judiciary through relatively fast arbitration.

Complete Answer:
The decisions have the status of the Legal Service Authority Act. Based on this law, Lok Adalat’s decision is deemed to have the same binding power as the findings of a civil court: final and non- appeal.
Functions of Lok Adalats:
1. Lok Adalat consists of a chairman, two members, and a social worker.
2. The chairman must and should be a sedentary or retired court officer.
3. Two other Lok Adalat commission members must become lawyers.
4. This dispute must be resolved by the chairman and permanent leader of the Lok Adalat Party.
Lok Adalat does not resolve disputes in its own case, but it is resolved on the basis of compromise between the parties.
The members obliged to resolve their disputes in a sovereign and impartial manner.
There is no fee payable to the court when a dispute is filed at Lok Adalat.

Note: The modern ideology of Lok Adalat was put forward by Justice P.N. Bhagwati, former chief justice of India. Civil cases, marriage cases, MACT, and petty offense cases mainly referred to Lok Adalat. The first Lok Adalat took place on the march in Junagarh, Gujarat. Maharashtra founded Lok Nyayalaya.