Meaning

The Supreme Court has explained the meaning of the institution of Lok Adalat in the following way7 :

The 'Lok Adalat’ is an old form of adjudicating system prevailed in ancient India and it’s validity has not been taken away even in the modern days too. The word 'Lok Adalat’ means 'People’s Court’. This system is based on Gandhian principles. It is one of the components of ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) system. As the Indian courts are overburdened with the backlog of cases and the regular courts are to decide the cases involving a lengthy, expensive and tedious procedure. The court takes years together to settle even petty cases. The Lok Adalat, therefore, provides alternative resolution or devise for expeditious and inexpensive justice.

In Lok Adalat proceedings, there are no victors and vanquished

and, thus, no rancour.

The experiment of 'Lok Adalat’ as an alternate mode of dispute settlement has come to be accepted in India, as a viable, economic, efficient and informal one.

The Lok Adalat is another alternative in judicial justice. This is a recent strategy for delivering informal, cheap and expeditious justice to the common man by way of settling disputes, which are pending in courts and also those, which have not yet reached courts by negotiation, conciliation and by adopting persuasive, common sense and human approach to the problems of the disputants, with the assistance of specially trained and experienced members of a team of conciliators.