It
gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this National Lok
Adalat Meet organized by the National Legal Services Authority which
was established with the objective of ensuring amicable justice in a speedy
manner. Equal and fair justice is the distinguishing attribute of any civilized
society. It is for this reason that our Constitution casts a primary
duty on the State to ensure equal justice for all by regulating the
relations of citizens with one another, by checking turmoil and dominance of
one class of people over others and by maintaining all those rights
which are elementary to the existence and development of common man,
through establishing the effective administration of justice. The Lok Adalat
system provides an120 approachable forum to the poor, weaker
and ignorant people who are often intimidated and confused by the greasy
substantive and140 procedural laws. It is a voluntary
mechanism and a major tool of legal aid programme which is mainly
concerned with160 providing a quick, easy, non-technical
and disputant-friendly forum to the people. It is the first time since the
inception of National Legal Services Authority that such National Lok
Adalat is endeavoured to be organized. As the title itself suggests the
significance of this National Lok Adalat is that it will be held across
the country on the same day in the Supreme Court, High Courts, and District
Courts, thereby aiming to reduce the pendency of cases in courts
while at240 the same time sensitizing the
public about prevalent of efficacious alternative dispute resolution method of
Lok Adalat. Approximately, 39 lakhs cases are being proposed to be taken up in
this National Lok Adalat comprising of large number of criminal compoundable280
cases, cheque bounce and bank recovery cases, civil suits, motor accident
claims, service matters, family matters and challan cases. The Highest
number of cases are listed for settlement in the States of Madhya
Pradesh and Maharashtra whereas in Uttar Pradesh, 320 Tamil Nadu
and West Bengal around four lakh cases are referred to Lok Adalats in each
State. In Delhi, three lakh cases have been referred to Lok Adalats. Most
of them are challan cases which can be settled by Lok360
Adalats. As far as the Supreme Court is concerned, 105 matters
are referred for disposal through the mechanism of Lok Adalat. Besides, it
is also expected that along with the Lok Adalats, through the special
sitting of magistrates and judges, a good number of infructuous
cases are also expected to be taken up and disposed of today. Therefore, in
all420
probabilities, it is expected that a few lakh cases will be disposed
of out of identified and referred matters to the National Lok Adalat.
Certainly, with the passage of time Lok Adalats have gained faith of the
people by settling the disputes both effectively and amicably. However, for
sustaining the faith in the system, it is obligatory for every presiding480
member of the Lok Adalat to make sincere efforts in bringing about a
conciliated settlement in every case put before it without causing any kind
of coercion, threat, undue influence, allurement or misrepresentation
either directly or indirectly. My beloved presiding560 members of Lok
Adalat, although you are guided by no tangible law while conducting the
proceedings except the Lok Adalats regulations, you will be guided by
principles of natural justice, equity, fair play, objectivity, giving consideration
to the rights and560 obligations of the parties,
custom and usages and the circumstances surrounding the dispute. On this
occasion, I also wish to emphasize that the members of the Lok Adalats must
take the requisite steps to see that the parties are not600
intimidated or misled by the accompanying people to affix their signatures in
the compromise deed. Since the award made by a Lok Adalat shall be final and
binding on all the parties to the dispute and there lies no appeal640
to any court against the award, the presiding members owe an implied obligation
to ensure that the parties fully understand the terms of settlement. It
is equally vital that the members of the Lok Adalat should affix their
signatures only in the settlement reached before them and should avoid
affixing signatures to the settlement reached by the parties outside the700
Lok Adalat with the assistance of some third parties, to ensure that the
Lok Adalats are not used by unscrupulous720 parties to
commit fraud, forgery etc. Although an increased rate of disposal
through Lok Adalat is significant, at the same time justice should
not only be done but also seem to be done. The legal service authorities
must diligently follow these regulations numerated in the National Legal
Services Authority (Lok Adalats) Regulations, 2009 while conducting Lok
Adalats. I am very glad that the technological advancement has
permitted us to view and monitor the organizing of Lok Adalats all over the800
country through video conferencing and webcasting facilitated by the
e-committee of the Supreme Court of India and the National
Informatics Centre of Government of India. I hope that in
near future all District and Taluk Courts will be computerized and840
interconnected for effective administration. I strongly believe that
alternative dispute resolution allows the poor and the marginalized to have
access to justice without traversing long distances and bearing
exorbitant litigation cost. Institutions like Lok Adalats must be
nurtured for resolving disputes in an amicable, cooperative and non-adversarial
manner, which will have a significant impact on the working of judicial
system in the country. Observing the increase in the number of cases
being filed every year, I feel that on account of success of this Lok
Adalat, this can also be organized as an yearly event until such
percentage of pendency of cases are brought down. I am confident that
the parties themselves will also be more inclined to settle the960
disputes through Lok Adalats as the law prescribes for refund of court fee if
the case is settled by Lok980 Adalats. I convey my warmest wishes to
the National Legal Services Authority for successful organization
of National Lok Adalat.
We have assembled today to
celebrate the anniversary of a momentous event, the anniversary of
the adoption of our Constitution, the day on which our founding
fathers subscribed to this document by signing the same and thereby
unfolding the social, economic and political philosophy for the governance of
free India. We have every reason to be proud of and to celebrate that
unique occasion. We take this opportunity to thank the founding fathers who
spent a good deal of their time1080 and energy in giving shape to
this suprema lex which was to
guide the future generations of the country. We are ever grateful to
them. The foremost reason why we are proud of our Constitution is that it
promises governance1120 through the Rule of Law. While in
many countries which initially opted for a democratic form of Government
the euphoria lasted for brief spells, we are of the view that in our country,
notwithstanding its complexity, democracy has stabilized and democratic
institutions have flourished. The survival of democracy in India has left many bewildered.
The socio-economic transformation with a welfare State and an egalitarian
society as its objective must also be through the process of law. It
is true that1200 such desired socio-economic
transformation through process of law has been slow, but the march has been
steady. Today, rule-specific laws are being substituted by rights-specific
laws. These socio-economic legislations require a paradigm shift in
the matter of interpretation of certain articles of the Constitution.
Courts have come from formal equality to egalitarian equality to the concept of
deprivation.
Judicial independence1260
is one of the essential elements of Rule of Law. Every civilized society
has seen the need for an impartial1280 and independent judiciary. The
principle of judicial independence has acquired renewed significance, since the
Constitution of India has conferred on the Judiciary the power of judicial
review. However, keeping in mind the doctrine of separation of powers, the
Judiciary has to exercise considerable restraint to ensure that the surcharged
democracy does not lead to a breakdown of the working of the Parliament and
the Government. The Judiciary needs to work in the area demarcated by the
Constitution. Awareness about rights has grown while correspondingly redressal
from the Executive has been reduced. The Executive has its own compulsions like
huge population, lack of resources, high inflation, global economic region etc.
As a consequence, litigation has multiplied. Despite commendable
achievements in terms1400 of disposal which I will
presently demonstrate, the challenge is and should be for zero pendency in
which direction a lot needs to be done.
Today,
the crisis of confidence in human institutions has come to the forefront. The deficiency1440
of every institution in tackling the growing and complicated social problems
has become a common feature. It is a challenge for every institution. Every democratic
institution needs to meet this challenge. The viability of judicial
institutions depends upon their acceptability by the people. When the viability
of the system gets into disrepute and ultimately the system becomes less and
less useful to the community, the challenge lies in rejuvenating the system
by restoring its credibility and people’s faith in it. Thus, the foremost
challenge to the Judiciary today is viability of the system. Citizens approach
the Court only when there is confidence in the system and faith in the
wisdom of the Judges. This is where the public trust doctrine comes in. The
Institution stands on public trust. I am an optimist. I do not share the
impression that judicial system has collapsed or is fast collapsing. I strongly
believe and maintain that with all the drawbacks and limitations of1600
shortage of resources and capacity, we still have a time-tested
system.
