National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has set the calendar for the year 2015 with 9 different days spread out in the entire year, when the National Lok Adalat will be held. The notice setting out the above dates has been uploaded on the Supreme Court website and can be accessed here.
Out of the 9 dates set out for the year 2015, one National Lok Adalat has already been successfully organised on 14th February. About 56,000 cases were disposed of all over the country on this day. This was the third National Lok Adalat and it saw the settlement of claims of about 265 crores in bank recovery and cheque bouncing cases.
The National Legal Services Authority has earmarked different category of cases for being heard on different days. The next National Lok Adalat, which will be the fourth National Lok Adalat, will be organised on 14th March 2015, which will hear cases dealing with Revenue, MNREGA and land acquisition matters. The next after this, will be organised within a month on 11th April and will hear matters relating to Labour law and family law. The next will be held either on 9th May or 13th June, depending on the Court summer vacation, and will hear matters pertaining to MACT and insurance claims.
Disputes relating to electricity / water / telephone / public utility will be taken up by the National Lok Adalat to be held on 11th July 2015. Then once again matters relating to cheque bouncing and recovery suits (pending and pre-litigation) will be heard on 8th August. The National Lok Adalat to be organised on 12th September will hear compoundable Criminal matters.
The penultimate National Lok Adalat for the year 2015 will be held on 10th October which will hear petty matters, traffic and municipal matters. And the last will be in the month of November or December for which neither has the date been fixed nor the subject category of cases.
This is considered to be a great step taken by the National Legal Services Authority, in the light of a whopping number of cases pending in different courts of the country. Lok Adalat will be held in all Courts all over the nation, ranging from the Supreme Court to the High Courts to the lowest level Courts in the District / Taluka. It will help in reducing the pendency of cases, which will be a huge relief to the common man in terms of money and time. The burden over the courts will also drastically reduce and as a result it will benefit the entire judicial system.
