The Hindu : Front Page : Bruhat Lok Adalat helps settle 2,490 cases

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 28, 2005

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Bruhat Lok Adalat helps settle 2,490 cases

Staff Reporter

The number is equal to what the over 80 city courts dispose of in seven months

HELPING THE LITIGANT: At the Bruhat Lok Adalat in Bangalore on Sunday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: For Vatsala, Sunday was a memorable day as she could settle her five-year-old dispute over the payment of dues that her deceased husband had to make to a bank for using credit card facility.

She appeared before the City Civil and Sessions Judge, N.K. Sudhindra Rao, and G.S. Balagangadhar, an advocate, who comprised one of the seven Benches formed for settling bank cases at the Bruhat Lok Adalat organised on the City Civil Court premises.

She offered to pay Rs. 40,000 out of a liability of Rs. 95,000 within six months and the bank agreed and the dispute was settled.

Similar was the reaction of Janakamma, a teacher, who could settle an eight-year-old dispute.

The Bruhat Lok Adalat, which was organised on the City Civil Court premises, Mayo Hall and the Magistrate Courts Complex, received good response with 2,490 cases getting settled out of the 7,000-odd cases selected for the day.

"This number is equal to what the over 80 city courts dispose of in seven months," said the Principal City Civil and Sessions Judge, Arali Nagaraj.

People came in large numbers and took part in the proceedings despite a protest by some section of city advocates.

The judiciary had made elaborate arrangements by setting up 95 Benches for settling cases relating to matrimony, accident claims, bank and dishonoured cheques, besides criminal cases.

Each Bench comprising a judge and an advocate, in the capacity as a conciliator, was involved in settling the cases with litigants and their advocates.

Among the list of the cases settled were 1,350 cases relating to dishonoured cheques filed under Negotiable Instruments Act. The others cases which were settled included 704 compoundable criminal cases, 201 accident claims and 121 civil cases.

Judges and the conciliators found it hard to help litigants reach a settlement in matrimonial and partition dispute cases.

Each case took almost an hour before settlement was reached for an alimony amount, a divorce, or for a portion of land in property.

But there were cases where the Bench could not succeed in helping litigants reach a compromise. The members of the Bench were not disappointed with such results.

"We have explained the consequences of prolonging disputes to the litigants. We have succeeded in building a ground for settlement," a judge observed.

The Karnataka High Court Judge, P. Vishwanatha Shetty, who is the Executive Chairman of Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, inaugurated the Bruhat Lok Adalat.

Representatives of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, insurance companies, private and public sector banks, and private companies took part in the adalat.

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