Uttarakhand Lok Adalat (Uttarakhand People's Court) or Uttarakhand State Legal Services Authority is an

statutory A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

and

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...

body and an

alternative dispute resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...

mechanism used in the state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

. The Uttarakhand Lok Adalat Act is designed to provide

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

al protection guaranteed under Article 14 and 39-A of the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...

, of “access to justice for all”. It is a legal system to resolve pending cases at

Panchayat The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical ment ...

or rural places, those in a pre-litigation stage in courts are resolved amicably. It is recognised as statutory authority under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 and the

Lok Adalat Lok Adalat is a Statutory Organization under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, and was created as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism used in India to resolve disputes/grievances outside courts. It is a forum where cases pending ...

s award or decision are deemed to be

civil case - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

and final and enforceable on both parties. Such an award is not appealable in any court of law in the absence of any provision. However, by approaching the court of appropriate jurisdiction, litigation can be initiated by any party in the suit if any of them are dissatisfied with the decision of the Lok Adalat (in the absence of any provision for appeal against such award). "Section 22 B of The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 provides for the establishment of Permanent Lok Adalats (PLA) for exercising jurisdiction in respect of one or more

public utility A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

services (PUS). Section 22 A of The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 states what constitutes 'Public Utility Services' for the purpose of Permanent Lok Adalat".

History and administration

Uttarakhand Lok Adalat was formed in 2000, under Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 and to implement the provisions of Constitution which had been drafted to help every citizen to get justice irrespective of their economic or other limitations. The primary value laid down as per Indian Constitutional philosophy is individual dignity which forms the basis of human rights and demands on a holistic basis of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. Uttarakhand Lok Adalat was formed with objective and purpose of ensuring and providing visible, practical and positive initiatives ensuring equality and non bias decisions as laid down in Constitution of India and assumes significance due to illiteracy and poverty prevalent in India. Lok Adalats are constituted at below levels: * State Authorities *

Uttarakhand High Court The Uttarakhand High Court is the High Court of the state of Uttarakhand in India. The building of Uttarakhand High Court was constructed by Santoni MacDonald in 1900. The Uttarakhand State was carved out from the State of Uttar Pradesh on ...

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and

Tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

level 1. Chairman 2. Secretaries *Mandal Committees *Mediation Centres Types of Lok Adalat: * Permanent Lok Adalat – Provides mechanism for adjudging cases referred under public utility services like transport, postal and telegraph. * National Lok Adalat – Held from year 2015, every month on specific topic across India. These are held on a single day disposing off large number of pending cases. * Mega Lok Adalat – Held across all courts in state in a single day. * Mobile Lok Adalat – These types of Lok Adalats are organised occasionally which travel from one place to other across country occasionally and help resolving disputes. Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra, the acting

Chief Justice of Uttarakhand The Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court is the highest presiding judicial officer in the state of Uttarakhand and the custodian of the Uttarakhand High Court. He is appointed by the President of India with the advice of Chief Justice ...

, is current patron-in-chief of Uttarakhand Lok Adalat. Uttarakhand Lok Adalat had added legal issues relating to Banking and Financial sector from year 2020 under its purview.

Uttarakhand Lok Adalat Committee and Complaint Procedures

Lok Adalat settles disputes which can be mutually resolved and mostly relating to

matrimonial Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

and partition suits. The following are the requirements of the cases before Lok Adalat: * Lok Adalat takes up cases which are civil in nature (including marriage, and family disputes) and compoundable

criminal case Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

s. * It accepts cases pending in regular court under their jurisdiction. * The main condition of the Lok Adalat is that both parties in dispute agree for settlement. * The court fee paid initially in the court for the complaints/petition is refunded to the parties, as no court fee is chargeable if a matter referred in the Lok Adalat and is resolved with parties agreeing to bind by it. * Procedural laws and the

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are not strictly followed while assessing claims. * Decisions are binding on the parties and its order is capable of execution through legal process. The following types of cases can be admitted in Uttarakhand Lok Adalat. 1. Any dispute or case pending in any court of law in Uttarakhand. * Criminal offences which are compoundable. * Cases under section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act. * Issues relating to recovery of money. * Issues under

Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 The Act came into force from 1 July 1989. It replaced Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 which earlier replaced the first such enactment Motor Vehicles Act, 1914. The act is amended by The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) act, ...

. * Issues relating to labour disputes. * Issues relating to public utility bills like electricity, water etc excluding Non Compoundable offences. * Issues relating to Matrimony. 2. Any dispute to be planned to filed in Court but did not come up for hearing in front of it. Following Pre-Litigation cases can also be filed in Lok-Adalat. * Cases under section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act. * Cases relating to recovery of money. * Issues relating to labour disputes. * Issues relating to public utility bills like electricity, water etc excluding Non Compoundable offences. * General Maintenance related disputes. * Other Miscellaneous cases which are civil disputes, criminal compoundable cases and matrimonial disputes. However, any legal issue which is not compoundable as per the Indian Legal Systems cannot be taken up in the Lok Adalat. As the members are presiding Lok Adalat as statutory conciliators and not in judicial capacity they can only persuade the parties to come to a settlement. Sometimes counselling sessions are also held between opposing parties. The main condition of the Lok Adalat is that both parties in dispute agree for settlement and if they are unable to do so, it is referred to the Permanent Lok Adalat for deciding the case provided the case is not related to compoundable offence. Uttarakhand Lok Adalat, as per the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

judgement, is formed to arrive at a compromise or solution between parties in dispute and hence does not have jurisdiction to go into merits of complaint.

Details of cases Resolved

1. In September 2021, Uttarakhand Lok Adalat settled 7630 cases through National Lok Adalat organised by it in different courts in Uttarakhand. 2. In November 2020, Uttarakhand Lok Adalat organised E-Lok Adalats settling various disputes. 3. In September 2016, Uttarakhand Lok Adalat organised National Lok Adalat on guidance from National Legal Service Authority (NLSA) for settling compoundable criminal cases. 4. In September 2020, Uttarakhand Lok Adalat organised E-Lok Adalat due to

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and increasing legal cases helping solve Compoundable offences.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Improve categories, date=November 2021 L Dispute resolution Lok Adalat

History and administration

Uttarakhand Lok Adalat Committee and Complaint Procedures

Details of cases Resolved

See also

References

External links