Lok Adalats (people’s courts) settle dispute through conciliation and compromise. Legal Services Authorities Act 1987
• First time held at Junagadh (Gujarat) in October 1982• Accepts cases pending in regular court under their jurisdiction • The Lok Adalat is presided over by a sittingषसकत or retired judicial officer as the chairman, with two other members, usually a lawyer and a social worker. • Main condition of the Lok Adalat is that both parties in dispute should agree for settlement. • There is no court fee. • If the case is already filed in the regular court, the fee paid will be refunded if the dispute is settled at the Lok Adalat • The procedural laws and the Evidence Act are not strictly followed while assessing the merits of the claim by the Lok Adalat
The decision of the Lok Adalat is binding on the parties to the dispute and its order is capable of execution through legal process.
No appeal lies against the order of the Lok Adalat.
Lok Adalat is very effective in settlement of money claims. Disputes like partition suits, damages and matrimonial cases can also be easily settled before Lok Adalat, as the scope for compromise through an approach of give and take is high in these cases.
A Lok Adalat has the jurisdiction to settle, by way of effecting compromise between the parties, any matter which may be pending before the court, as well as matters at pre-litigative stage i.e. disputes that have not been formally instituted in any court of law.