In 2014, a young woman in Kozhikode city lost her husband to electrocution from a direct-to-home TV cable that was carried by the Electricity Board’s power poles.
In 2015, she moved the Permanent Lok Adalat (PLA) in Kozhikode, one of the three PLAs in Kerala that deal exclusively with public utility service issues, for compensation.
In less than two years, she received nearly ₹10 lakh in compensation, pooled in by the TV company, the Electricity Board and the insurance company concerned. The conciliation by the PLA made the compensation possible in a short period.
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Had the litigation gone to the normal civil courts, it would have, appeals after appeals, taken around 20 years to come to a permanent verdict.
Fortunately for the young woman, an award pronounced by the PLA cannot be appealed against.
In another case, the PLA awarded a compensation of ₹7,000 to a young woman who could not make it to her medical entrance examination because her bus was detained by the police at Feroke as the driver was drunk.
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The transport agency that had booked her ticket agreed to pay the compensation. In yet another case, a Kozhikode hospital agreed, through the PLA conciliation, to pay a compensation of ₹7 lakh to the relatives of a victim of medical negligence.
Few litigants
These are some of the cases the Kozhikode PLA, which has jurisdiction over the six north Kerala districts, intervened in the recent past. Yet, at a time when all the courts in India are choking with litigation, the number of people petitioning the PLA, which can award compensation for shortcomings in a wide variety of public utility services, is extremely low. Only 68 petitions came up before the adalat from all the six districts last year, averaging a little over one petition a week.
“There is a lack of awareness about the PLA mechanism among the public,” points out P.K. Lakshmanan, chairman of the Kohikode PLA.
“We function as an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism, which is far easier, speedier and inexpensive than the normal legal mechanism.”
He pointed out that a complainant could just walk in and file his petition, without paying any court fee, hiring a lawyer and without going through any hassles. However, people were not making proper use of the mechanism, Mr. Lakshmanan, who retired as a district judge, pointed out.
Compensation
The PLA is a permanent forum with a chairman and two members. It is a mechanism for conciliation and settlement of cases relating to public utility services such as transport (air, road and water), postal, telephone, electricity, water supply and sanitation. The award of the PLA is final and cannot be appealed against.
The pecuniary jurisdiction of the PLA is up to ₹1 crore. Apart from the chairman, who is normally a retired district judge, there are two ‘technical’ members in each PLA.
“The PLA is a fast-track forum for seeking easy redressal of public utility grievances,” D.B. Binu, lawyer and right-to-information activist, told The Hindu .
“It has a lot of powers and potential. However, it is surprising that very few people make use of it.”