3.1. Origin of Lok Adalats

The first Lok Adalat was held on March 14, 1982 at Junagarh in Gujarat. Maharashtra commenced the Lok Nyayalaya in 1984.

The advent of Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 gave a statutory status to Lok Adalats, pursuant to the constitutional mandate in Article 39A (free legal aid to the poor and weaker sections of the society and justice for all) of the Constitution of India. It contains provisions such as:

♤ This Act mandates constitution of legal services authorities to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society and to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.

♤ It also mandates organization of Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity.

♤ The award passed by the Lok Adalat formulating the terms of compromise will have the force of decree of a court, which can be executed as a civil court decree.

The evolution of movement called Lok Adalat was a part of the strategy to relieve heavy burden on the Courts with pending cases and to give relief to the litigants who were in a queue to get justice.

♤ The parties don’t have to be represented by the lawyers and are encouraged to interact with judge who helps in arriving at amicable settlement.

♤ No fee is paid by the parties.

♤ Strict rule of Civil Procedural Court and Evidence is not applied.

♤ Decision is by informal sitting and binding on the parties and no appeal lies against the order of the Lok Adalat.