Disposal of cases through regular Lok Adalat.
Legal Services Authority organizes State Level Lok Adalat in every district headquarters in each month for disposal of Motor Accident Claim cases. Considering the huge backlog of the cases in the court, it is also the endeavor of the Authority to minimize the litigations so as to lesser the burden of the court and also to save the time and money of the parties involved. Inorder to achieve this purpose the District Legal Services Authorities and Taluk Legal services Committees are organizing regular Lok Adalats in every month to settle disputes between the parties amicably in compoundable Criminal Cases, Petty offences and Civil Cases.
The Lok Adalat system, envisaged by the Act, is meant to supplement the court-system and not to supplant the same. Section20(4) of the Legal Services Authorities Act requires the Lok Adalats to act with expedition and to bring about compromise between the parties for resolving their disputes. Lok Adalats are not bound by procedural hassles. The Act lends flexibility in the application of the procedure to settle the disputes. This has unshackled the rigors of procedure, which had retarded the speed of judicial system.
Disposal of cases through Permanent & Continuous Lok Adalat Scheme.
A Permanent & Continuous Lok Adalat is functioning in each district. Post-litigation and pre-litigation cases are being disposed of in the said Lok Adalat through Mediation and Conciliation process. The aim and object of this scheme is to provide an additional forum to the litigants for conciliatory settlement of their disputes or litigations for sake of peace and coherence in the society and lesser the burden of the Courts. A decision rendered by a Lok Adalat has force of a decree and is executable under the name. A separate scheme has been framed by the Authorities for disposed of cases through Permanent and Continuous Lok Adalats.
Lok Adalats, constituted under Chapter-6 of the Act are empowered to resolve disputes only when the parties arrive at a compromise by settlement. In case, the parties do not arrive at a settlement or compromise, the case is required to be returned to the court of law, or the parties are advised to seek remedy through court-system. In order to make the Act more effective, Parliament has inserted Chapter 6-A by Legal Services Authorities Amendment Act, 2002. As a result of the amendment, Permanent Lok Adalats have been set up for providing compulsory and pre-litigative device for settlement of cases relating to public utility services. In a public utility matter, the Lok Adalat in the first instance is required to make efforts for bringing about conciliation between the parties and in case the parties are not able to arrive at a compromise or settlement, the Lok Adalat has been empowered to dispose off the matter on merits, provided it does not relate to an offence. A decision rendered by a Lok adalat has force of a decree and is executable. No appeal lies against its decision. One of the greatest advantages of a decision by Lok Adalat system is that it generates amity between the parties. When the matters are settled by compromise, rancour and ill-will between the parties vanishes. This leads to cordiality amongst them. The settlement by conciliation not only decides the lis, but also restores conducive relations between the parties and consequently reduces social tension. Parties facing litigations in courts are devastated by the time-consuming process and expenses, which they have to incur. Court- cases breed enmities between the parties. The cases settled by Lok Adalats by compromise generate goodwill as there is no victor or vanquished.
Disposal of cases through Mediation:
One Mediation Centre each in districts namely Cuttack, Berhampur(Ganjam) , Balasore, Baripada (Mayurbhanj), Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Bolangir, Jeypore(Koraput), Bhubaneswar (Khurda) and Keonjhar have already been established and made functional in the concerned district courts. Besides, one Mediation Centre at the State level is also functioning in the premises of the Orissa State Legal Services Authority, Cuttack. Trained Mediators have been engaged in those Mediation Centres for the purpose of mediating the disputes of people at Pre-litigation or post-litigation stages, as the case may be. Civil Cases of simple nature, Matrimonial litigations, partition suits, Compoundable Criminal Cases can be / are being referred by the courts concerned to the Mediation Centres to facilitate their disposal or final settlement at the intervention of Mediators. Disputes at Pre-litigation stage can also be dealt with by these centres for resolution through conciliation.