The role of Lok Adalat is not just to settle legal issues alone but also address matters of public interest. Members of the public, particularly social workers, volunteers of service organisations can utilise the services of Lok Adalat for public interest-oriented issues, said Satish K. Agnihotri, Judge of the Madras High Court.
Laying the foundation stone for an Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre (ADRC) building to be built at a cost of Rs. 1 crore here on Saturday, Mr. Agnihotri said that Pudukottai was one of the last districts where the ADRC was being built, although the Centrally-funded scheme at the time of sanction in 2012, stipulated that the ADRC should be built in all the district headquarters in the State before March 2015.
He appealed to the volunteers of the service organisations, social workers, and paralegal volunteers to take up the issues of public interest with the Lok Adalat. He said the boundary of Lok Adalat was well beyond the legal disputes and was open for people’s welfare at large. Tamil Nadu was in the forefront in bringing down the pendency of cases.
Mr. Agnihotri said that whenever Lok Adalats were convened, the district, and the police administration should ensure that officials from all departments participated in it so that the people’s grievances could be resolved without any delay.
He advised the Public Works Department authorities to design the building in such a way that the members of the litigant public had proper amenities.
T. Madhivanan, Judge,Madras High Court, said the ADRC was the felt need of the district. P. Ravi, Principal District Judge, S. Ganesh, District Collector, A. Ravichandran, president of the Pudukottai Bar Association, spoke.
S. Dinakaran, Superintending Engineer, Public Works Department, in his project report, said that the ADRC would be constructed with seven months. Its plinth area would be 440 square metre and would house the District Legal Service Office, chambers for its Chairman and Secretary, Lok Adalat room, mediation, counselling room, record rack and other basic amenities.
