More than 30 financial disputes were settled at the 13th Lok Adalat of the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) held here on Friday, resulting in recovery to the tune of around Rs.4.5 crore.
According to K.Hari Narayana, presiding officer of the DRT, 287 cases – 189 DRT cases and 98 pre-litigation cases – were referred by banks, financial institutions and other parties for settlement at the Lok Adalat.
The DRT, established in Madurai in 2007 with jurisdiction over 13 southern districts, had disposed of 3,087 cases so far, he claimed.
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A backlog of 1,656 cases, involving an amount of Rs.1,283 crore, are pending to date. In the last 12 months, the DRT had disposed of 562 cases, involving a total amount of Rs.117.34 crore. The overall result achieved by the earlier Lok Adalat was 50 per cent, he observed.
Earlier, Justice S.Rajeswaran of the Madras High Court inaugurated the Lok Adalat. Retired district judge T.P.Parameswaran was the presiding judge of the Lok Adalat.
M.Theivakkani, senior advocate, and S.Esther, a social worker in the panel of Madurai District Legal Services Authority, sat in the panel along with Mr.Parameswaran to dispose of the cases.
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According to Mr.Narayana, since its establishment the DRT has seen filing of 4,182 cases by banks and financial institutions to recover Rs.3,549.86 crore from defaulters. Independent parties have also filed cases. On an average, 515 cases are settled every year.
The Lok Adalat is organised once in six months, said S.Srinivasan, a recovery officer of the DRT.
“The response to the Lok Adalat has been enormous. As we were able to settle only a limited number of disputes on Friday, we might organise a few more sessions of the Lok Adalat to benefit parties,” he added.