Lok Adalats and NALSA

Lok Adalat is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms, it is a forum where disputes/cases pending in the court of law or at pre-litigation stage are settled/ compromised amicably.

• Lok Adalats have been given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Under the said Act, the award (decision) made by the Lok Adalats is deemed to be a decree of a civil court and is final and binding on all parties and no appeal against such an award lies before any court of law.
• If the parties are not satisfied with the award of the Lok Adalat though there is no provision for an appeal against such an award, but they are free to initiate litigation by approaching the court of appropriate jurisdiction by filing a case by following the required procedure, in exercise of their right to litigate.
• There is no court fee payable when a matter is filed in a Lok Adalat.
• If a matter pending in the court of law is referred to the Lok Adalat and is settled subsequently, the court fee originally paid in the court on the complaints/petition is also refunded back to the parties.
• The persons deciding the cases in the Lok Adalats are called the Members of the Lok Adalats, they have the role of statutory conciliators only and do not have any judicial role; therefore, they can only persuade the parties to come to a conclusion for settling the dispute outside the court in the Lok Adalat and shall not pressurize or coerce any of the parties to compromise or settle cases or matters either directly or indirectly.
• The Lok Adalat shall not decide the matter so referred at its own instance, instead the same would be decided on the basis of the compromise or settlement between the parties.
• The members shall assist the parties in an independent and impartial manner in their attempt to reach amicable settlement of their dispute.

National Legal Service Authority

Article 39A of the Constitution of  India provides for free legal aid to the poor and weaker sections of the society and ensures justice for all. Articles 14 and 22(1) of the Constitution also make it obligatory for the State to ensure equality before law and a legal system which promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity to all. The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987:

• To establish a nationwide uniform network for providing free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society on the basis of equal opportunity and to monitor and evaluate implementation of legal aid programmes.
• To lay down policies and principles for making legal services available under the Act.

In carrying out all these responsibilities, NALSA works in close coordination with the various State Legal Services Authorities, District Legal Services Authorities and other agencies for a regular exchange of relevant information, monitoring and updating on the implementation and progress of the various schemes in vogue and fostering a strategic and coordinated approach to ensure smooth and streamlined functioning of the various agencies and stakeholders.

Functioning of NALSA

NALSA lays down policies, principles, guidelines and frames effective and economical schemes for the State Legal Services Authorities to implement the Legal Services Programmes throughout the country.

Primarily, the State Legal Services Authorities, District Legal Services Authorities, Taluk Legal Services Committees, etc., have been asked to discharge the following main functions on regular basis:

• To Provide Free and Competent Legal Services to the eligible persons;
• To organize Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes and
• To organize legal awareness camps in the rural areas.

Limitations of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) Methods

• Compatibility in blistering era of disputes
• The possibility of bias
• Lack of power to establish legal precedents
• Limited Judicial Review
• Unfamiliarity with the procedure and Lack of Awareness
• Wastage of time/money if case is not resolved

Way Forward

• ADR has proven successful in clearing the backlog of cases in various levels of the judiciary – Lok Adalats alone have disposed more than 50 lakh cases every year on average in the last three years.
  • But there seems to be a lack of awareness about the availability of these mechanisms.
• The National and State Legal Services Authorities should disseminate more information regarding these, so they become the first option explored by potential litigants.
• The future of dispute resolution revolves around ICT innovations and new ideas to make dispute resolution efficient and accessible for every section of the society.
  • ODR has the potential to decentralise dispute resolution in India and empower innovators across communities to create targeted ODR processes to resolve disputes efficiently.