The Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority (Jhalsa) disposed of as many as 29,000 cases during the Lok Adalat virtually after the Covid 19 pandemic set in.
According to Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority (Jhalsa) a total of 29,000 cases which includes 11,538 pending cases and 18,195 pre-litigation cases were disposed of. In all, disputes involving accident claims and other cases were settled and amounts to the tune of Rs 100 crore were paid to claimants. Based on National Legal Services Authority (Nalsa) the Lok Adalat was held in virtual and hybrid mode.
The Lok Adalat was held under the patronage of Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice-cum-patron Jhalsa, Dr Ravi Ranjan and under the direction of Jharkhand High Court Justice and executive chairman Jhalsa Aparesh Kumar Singh. The Lok Adalat which was held on Saturday (July 10) was held at all 24 districts by constituting benches. In these 24 districts, 223 benches were constituted. In these Lok Adalats matters related to family courts, Diwani matters, matters related to banks, electricity, water supply, cheque bounce, forest and environment, excise, motor vehicles and others were settled.
Also, under the direction of Jharkhand High Court Justice and chairman of Jharkhand High Court Legal Service Authority, Sujit Narayan Prasad, Lok Adalat was held and pending cases of the High Court were settled.
The cases were disposed of virtually and for disposal of cases seven benches were constituted. Through these seven benches, 163 cases were disposed of while at the same time 33 beneficiaries received appointment letters.
Jhalsa member secretary Mohammad Shakir said, “The constitution of Lok Adalat during pandemic time helped in reducing pending cases. At Lok Adalat around 11,000 pending cases were disposed of. During pandemic times when courts are not functioning properly it is a big achievement.”
The last Lok Adalalt was held in April where thousands of cases were disposed of. The next Lok Adalat is scheduled for September.
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.