First hand experience of a National Lok Adalat.

Prateek Garg
Jul 10, 2017 · 3 min read

This is about my experience of witnessing of a National Lok Adalat(NLA) for the first time. Being a Para Legal Volunteer(PLV), registered with DSLSA(Delhi State Legal Service Authority), has it’s perks. On 8th, July 2017, I along with a few of my college mates got an opportunity to volunteer for NLA held at Karkardooma Court Complex, Delhi.

This court holds the privilege of having jurisdiction over one of the oldest police chowki of Delhi, India, the Shahadra.

Around 3000 cases were listed, which included Labour, Plea-bargaining, Finance pre-litigative, Electricity board pre-litigative, Traffic Challans, petty theft, etc cases. The cases were divided among some 14 odd courts.

We were to assemble at 0930, at the legal aid room of the court complex. By the time we reached(0920), long serpentine lines had already formed. Soon we were provided with order direction by Hon’ble District & Sessions Judge/Chairman (DLSA)/ East, Karkardooma Courts, and were instructed to help people who were lost in the maze of legal corridors, to the correct court room and to observe any/all courtroom proceedings.

Proceedings started by 10, and what I witnessed was unbelievable. I had a strong preconceived notion(my mistake) that a legal proceeding in India, was supposed to linger on for years. But, here right in front of my eyes, the cases were getting solved in matter of minutes. A typical hearing was as follows:-

Case of petty theft(mobile phone theft), case number and names are announced at the court room gate, the accused(thief) and complainant(owner) enter the court room. Judge asks the complainant, if s/he has recovered the lost item, response ‘Yes’, then is s/he wants to pursue the matter further, response ‘No’. That’s it, the accused, is reprimanded of not repeating the offence, has to pay a nominal fine, sign a bond. And the case is settled!

Then there was a case wherein there were four accused, in a theft case. On announcement of case name and number, the complainant and only three accused presented themselves. On enquiry, it was found that fourth fellow got arrested in a separate case, just a day before and was in jail at the moment. Now, the three present and complainant tried very hard to convince the Judge to settle the case and end the issue, but the Judge didn’t budge. A new hearing date was announced and a Warrant was issued on name for fourth fellow. Judge clearly stated that all accused(here four) and complainant must be present to settle the matter.

There were many more cases, on similar lines over next three hours. Then, it was time for awareness program on ‘ADR Mechanism and Concept of Lok Adalat’. It was a pleasant surprise when all three sessions judges, who hold their courts in Karkardooma Court Complex along with Secretary (DLSA)/ East entered and began the session. Most of them(3 out of 4) happened to be law graduates from my Law College. After sharing some reminiscent stories of their days in college, they discussed multiple opportunities a career in law offers, various initiatives(past/present/future) of DSLSA were discussed.

With this, an eventful day came to an end. My take away from the experience was, ADR( initiatives like Lok Adalat) can the key to speedy justice in India. Most of the cases pending in courts are of similar nature, which include minor offences and can be judged quickly. The current practice of holding monthly(every second Saturday) Lok Adalats in Delhi, will go long way in reducing the burden on normal courts. I sincerely hope this mechanism will be replicated in rest of India soon.

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