Lok Adalat can't decide cases on merits: SC

The Supreme Court has said ‘Lok Adalats’, organised across the country to dispose of cases, do not have jurisdiction to go into merits of the matter as it is meant to arrive at a compromise or settlement between the parties in a dispute.

The top court further said in case parties failed to arrive at a compromise, the Lok Adalat has to return the file to the court concerned.

In a recent judgement, a bench of Justices M R Shah and A S Bopanna explained the legal provisions after going through the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 under which the Lok Adalat is organised.

Lok Adalat is organised by State or District Authority or the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee or the High Court Legal Services Committee at regular intervals for expeditious disposal of cases on a reference by the court concerned.

The top court quashed an order passed by the Lok Adalat, Madhya Pradesh High Court on an appeal filed by the Estate Officer, contending that the members of Lok Adalat had gone into merits of the matter.

It was submitted before the court that the Lok Adalat, going into merits of the matter, was totally impermissible under the law. The other side, on the contrary, claimed once the matter was placed before the Lok Adalat with the consent of the parties, the entire matter would be at large before it.

The court, for its part, said, “a fair reading of the provisions of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 makes it clear that the jurisdiction of the Lok Adalat would be to determine and to arrive at a compromise or a settlement between the parties to a dispute.”

Once the settlement or compromise fails and it could not be arrived at between the parties, the Lok Adalat has to return the case to the court from which the reference has been received for disposal in accordance with law, it said.

“In any case, the Lok Adalat has no jurisdiction at all to decide the matter on merits, once it is found that compromise or settlement could not be arrived at between the parties,” the bench added.

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