The District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) in Mysuru has identified more than 21,600 cases with the potential for settlement during the National Lok Adalat which will be held on March 8, 2025.
B.G. Dinesh, Senior Civil Judge and Member Secretary of DLSA said, “The National Lok Adalat is being held as per the directions of the National Legal Services Authority, New Delhi, and the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, Bengaluru, across all courts in the State, including those in Mysuru district.”
The objective of the Lok Adalat is to resolve pending cases through mutual consent and mediation, especially those that could be resolved under the law, apart from the pre-trial cases.
According to the DLSA, there are 1,19,646 cases pending in various courts in the district of which 60,391 are civil cases and 59,255 are criminal. At present, 32,189 of these cases are eligible for settlement, and 21,646 cases have already been identified as having the possibility of settlement and will be taken up during the National Lok Adalat.
Given the classification of various cases, the authorities said there were 1,478 motor vehicle accident cases in addition to 1,360 criminal cases that can be settled. Litigation concerning cheque bounce is the highest. Of the 20,914 pending cases, around 5,011 cases can be settled.
According to the DLSA, there are 9,936 civil and other criminal cases with potential for settlement, while there are 3,861 pre-litigation cases as well which are yet to be heard in the court and are eligible for dispute resolution through mediation.
Mr. Dinesh said cases that are eligible for settlement will be taken up for resolution if the litigants approach the relevant court or the DLSA and the relevant taluk legal services committees for mediation.
Usha Rani, Principal District and Sessions Judge, and Chairperson, DLSA, underscored the benefits of Lok Adalat and the resolution of disputes through mediation and said the awards/orders passed in settled cases in the Lok Adalat will have the same legal value as the orders passed by the court in settled cases.
In addition, disputes can be resolved quickly and at a very low cost. Not only does it help save time but will also foment good relationship between the parties involved, she added.
It was also pointed out that no court fee needs to be paid and the litigants too can take part in it directly. However, the DLSA pointed out that the cases can be resolved only if the solution proposed by the mediators was agreeable to the parties involved in the case.
Published – March 06, 2025 07:06 pm IST