Haryana State Legal Services Authority has leveraged the important mechanism of ‘Lok Adalat’ as an effective alternative dispute resolution method for ensuring quick and final consensual disposal of cases binding on the parties, without incurring any extra cost or fees.

Scheduled Lok Adalats

HALSA is organizing scheduled Lok Adalats in all the districts courts and sub divisional courts of Haryana from time to time as per schedule prepared by DLSAs. In these Lok Adalats, pending cases of all nature are taken up by different Lok Adalat benches presided by judicial officers and members. These Lok Adalats have proved to be very successful, particularly with regard to MACT Cases.

Mobile/Rural Lok Adalats

HALSA is organizing Mobile/Rural Lok Adalats in the villages to make speedy and inexpensive justice available to the people at their door step by amicable resolution of their disputes through mediation/conciliation by the respectables of the village and Village Gram Panchayats. In these Mobile/Rural Lok Adalats, all the pending cases in the courts as well as cases at pre-litigative stage of such village and adjoining villages are taken up for settlement.

Earlier these rural Lok Adalats were presided over by judicial officers by rotation. However, since October, 2011, these Adalats are attended by Panel Advocates and Para Legal Volunteers, who make efforts to bring parties together in all pending matters of that area, where rural Lok Adalat takes place, to arrive at acceptable settlement. Similar efforts are made in pre-litigation matters of that area. The cases, in which parties agree for settlement, are then taken up in forthcoming Lok Adalat.

(c)

Permanent and Continuous Lok Adalats (Samjhauta Sadans).

Lok Adalats in the Courts and Mobile/Rural Lok Adalats are not permanent features and are organized periodically on scheduled dates notified by the District Legal Services Authorities/Sub-Divisional Legal Services Committees. In order to make the forum of Lok Adalat available to the people as Alternative Disputes Resolution Forum on Permanent and Continuous basis, Haryana State Legal Services Authority had set up Permanent and Continuous Lok Adalats (Samjhauta Sadans) headed by retired Judicial Officers in 3 districts i.e. Ambala, Panchkula, and Kurukshetra; whereas in the remaining districts/sub-divisions Permanent and Continuous Lok Adalats (Samjhauta Sadans) were headed by sitting Judicial Officers in the Districts/Sub-Divisions by rotation.

At places, where sitting Judicial Officers were directed to hold Permanent and Continuous Lok Adalat (Samjhauta Sadan) on rotational basis, it was felt that no settlements were taking place. It was felt that whenever any settlement/compromise was arrived at between the parties in the Court, where case is pending, parties are in a hurry and they lack patience, when told to appear before Samjhauta Sadan. They want quick result there and then on the plea that once compromise has been effected, they should not be asked to wait for reaping the fruits of compromise like refund of Court fee in Lok Adalat etc.

Experiment of Daily Lok Adalat was started at Sonepat and results were found encouraging, which made existence of PLA (SS) as functionally redundant. Daily Lok Adalats were then started in remaining districts. Presently, said Daily Lok Adalats are being held in 18 out of 21 districts of Haryana.

Every Court of the Sessions Division converts into Lok Adalat daily and hold sittings for this purpose for half an hour or an hour, as per requirement depending upon the workload of cases coming for settlement everyday in each Court.  This way, there are as many Daily Lok Adalats as the number of Courts in that Sessions Division.  Said Daily Lok Adalat are assisted by one lawyer or social worker on the panel.

(d)

Permanent Lok Adalats (Public Utility Services)

On initiative of Haryana State Legal Services Authority, Haryana Government sanctioned administrative approval of four Permanent Lok Adalats pertaining to Public Utility Services at the four Divisional Head Quarters namely Ambala, Rohtak, Gurgaon and Hissar with jurisdiction in the Revenue Division of their location. Later on, two more PLA (PUS) were sanctioned at Faridabad and Panchkula.

Presently i.e. five Permanent Lok Adalats (Public Utility Services) are functioning in the State of Haryana at Ambala, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Panchkula and Faridabad; whereas, functioning at Hissar will start soon. These PLA(PUS) cover most of the districts of Haryana as under:

It may be added that in a recent meeting, Government has agreed in principal to accord sanction to set up 5 more such PLA (PUS).