The cases pending in various courts in the State have come down by 29 per cent this year owing to settlement of 3.67 lakh cases in the two national Lok Adalats held in all districts, said D.H. Waghela, Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court.
Addressing presspersons here on Thursday, he said there were around 13 lakh cases pending in different courts early this year.
The settlement of a whopping 14.1 lakh pre-litigation cases during the two Lok Adalats has prevented around 7 lakh cases from reaching the courts.
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A total of 17,81,287 lakh cases pending in various courts were disposed of by way of settlements this year, he said.
“It was heartening as well as a sort of shock as 14.1 lakh pre-litigation cases were settled as we were expecting only around seven to eight lakh cases to be done,” Chief Justice Waghela said.
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He also pointed out that 99,520 and 13.11 lakh pre-litigation cases were settled in the first and the second national-level Lok Adalats respectively. “It is a remarkable achievement as the State has less than 900 judges.”.
Justice N.K. Patil, judge of the High Court and Executive Chairperson of the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, said the settlement of such a large number of cases could not have been possible without the cooperation of judicial officers, advocates, litigants, various government agencies and awareness created by the media.