Lok Adalat is a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system in India, which is designed to provide an inexpensive and expeditious means of settling disputes outside the formal court system. The term “Lok Adalat” is derived from two Hindi words, “Lok” meaning people, and “Adalat” meaning court. It is a people’s court where the disputes are resolved by mutual consent of the parties involved in the dispute, with the help of an impartial third party, the Lok Adalat bench.

The Lok Adalat system was introduced in India in 1987, through the Legal Services Authorities Act, with the objective of providing access to justice to the common people, especially to those who are economically and socially disadvantaged. The system of Lok Adalat has been highly successful in India, as it has helped in resolving a large number of disputes, which otherwise would have been pending in courts for years.

Some of the key features of Lok Adalats are:

1. Voluntary Participation: Participation in Lok Adalats is voluntary, and the parties involved in the dispute have to agree to participate in the process. The Lok Adalat does not have the power to summon any party or witness to attend the proceedings.
2. Conciliatory Approach: The Lok Adalat adopts a conciliatory approach, and the members of the bench try to bring about a settlement between the parties through negotiation and mediation. The bench members do not impose any decision on the parties, but instead, they facilitate the parties to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution.
3. Speedy Resolution: One of the significant advantages of Lok Adalats is that they provide a speedy resolution of disputes. The proceedings in Lok Adalats are informal, and the parties can resolve their disputes within a few hours or a day, as compared to the time-consuming court system.
4. Cost-Effective: The Lok Adalat system is highly cost-effective, as there are no court fees or lawyer fees involved. The parties can present their cases themselves, and the bench members assist them in resolving their disputes.
5. Binding and Final: The settlement arrived at in Lok Adalat is binding and final, and the parties cannot appeal against the decision of the bench. The settlement agreement is enforceable as a decree of a civil court.
6. Wide Jurisdiction: Lok Adalats have the jurisdiction to deal with a wide range of disputes, including civil, criminal, and family disputes. However, they cannot deal with disputes related to non-compoundable offences.

Lok Adalats are a highly effective mechanism for the resolution of disputes, which provides a speedy, cost-effective, and accessible means of justice to the common people. The system of Lok Adalats has been successful in India, and it has helped in reducing the burden on the formal court system by providing an alternate forum for the resolution of disputes.

Constitution and Composition of Lok Adalats

• Constitution: The State Legal Services authority or the District Legal Services Authority or the Supreme court Legal Services Committee or the High Court Legal Services Committee or the Taluk Legal Services Committee may organise Lok Adalats at such intervals and places and for such areas as it thinks fit.
• Composition: Every Lok Adalat organised for an area shall consist of such number of serving or retired judicial officers and other persons of the area as may be specified by the agency such as State Authority, District Authority or Supreme court legal services committee, High court legal services committee or may be by Taluk legal services committee. Generally, a Lok Adalat consists of a judicial officer as the chairman and a lawyer and a social worker as members. For Instance, the composition of Lok Adalat at state level is as follows-
  • a sitting or retired judge of the High Court as a Chairperson,
  • a member of the legal profession, and/or
  • a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes.

Jurisdiction of Lok Adalats

A Lok Adalat shall have jurisdiction to determine and to arrive at a compromise or settlement between the parties to a dispute in respect of:

• Any case pending before any court; or
• Any matter which falls within the jurisdiction of any court and is not brought before such court. 

Thus, the Lok Adalat can deal with not only the cases pending before a court but also with the disputes at pre-litigation stage.

Permanent Lok Adalat

Permanent Lok Adalats have been set up by amending the Legal Services Act, 1987 in 2002. They are established to provide a compulsory pre-litigation mechanism for conciliation and settlement of cases relating to Public Utility Services like transport, postal, telegraph etc. They are organised under Section 22-B of The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.

1. Composition: The Permanent Lok Adalat shall consist of a Chairman who is or has been a district judge or additional district judge or has held judicial office higher in rank than that of the district judge and two other persons having adequate experience in public utility services.
2. Jurisdiction: The Permanent Lok Adalat shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of public utility services such as transport services; postal, telegraph or telephone services ; supply of power or water to the public by any establishment; services in hospitals or dispensaries ; and insurance services.
3. Pecuniary jurisdiction: The pecuniary jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalat shall be up to rupees ten lakhs. However, the Central Government may increase the said pecuniary jurisdiction from time to time.
4. Limited Jurisdiction: The Permanent Lok Adalat shall have no jurisdiction in respect of any matter relating to an offence not compoundable under any law. 
5. Application for settlement of dispute: Before the dispute is brought before any court, any party to the dispute may make an application to the Permanent Lok Adalat for settlement of the dispute. After an application is made to the Permanent Lok Adalat, no party to that application shall invoke jurisdiction of any court in the same dispute. 
6. Powers in case of non-settlement: Where it appears to the Permanent Lok Adalat that there exist elements of a settlement, which may be acceptable to the parties, it shall formulate the terms of a possible settlement and submit them to the parties for their observations and in case the parties reach an agreement, the Permanent Lok Adalat shall pass an award in terms thereof. In case parties to the dispute fail to reach an agreement, the Permanent Lok Adalat shall decide the dispute on merits.
7. Final and binding decisions: Every award made by the Permanent Lok Adalat shall be final and binding on all the parties thereto shall be by a majority of the persons constituting the Permanent Lok Adalat.