*Over Rs 42-crore realized as compensation/settlement amount
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 11: In the 2nd National Lok Adalat of the year that held across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir today, a total of 1,22,549 cases were amicably settled and disposed off involving an amount of Rs 42,73,80,904 as compensation/settlement amount in cases like Motor Accident claims, Civil, Criminal, Labour Disputes, Electricity and Water Bills, Land Acquisition, Family matters, Cheque Dishonor and Bank Recovery etc.
The Lok Adalat was held under the patronage of Justice N Kotiswar Singh, Chief Justice, High Court of J&K and Ladakh (Patron-in-Chief, J&K Legal Services Authority) and mentorship of Justice Tashi Rabstan (Executive Chairman, J&K Legal Services Authority) as also under the guidance of Justice Sindhu Sharma (Chairperson, High Court Legal Services Committee).
In order to ensure amicable settlement of maximum disputes, Pre-Lok Adalat sittings and Pre-Counselling sessions were organized well before the date of National Lok Adalat so that the parties get ample opportunity to engage in dialogue with their opponents to arrive at a consensus to resolve the dispute permanently. Besides, webinars and virtual meetings were also organized to sensitize the stakeholders, officers of Legal Services Institutions, LADCs, Panel Lawyers, PLVs and all those who are related in one way or the other in enhancing the Alternate Dispute Resolution, regarding the importance of Lok Adalat and to persuade the parties to take maximum benefit out of it.
Talking to media persons, Member Secretary, J&K Legal Services Authority, Amit Kumar Gupta said that flocking of litigants for participation in large number for amicable settlement of huge number of cases in today’s Lok Adalat is a testimony to the fact that the common masses want resolution of their disputes pending as well as at pre-litigation state through the medium of Alternate Dispute Resolution. So, he urged all the stakeholders to come forward and take maximum benefit of such initiatives of the NALSA. He also informed that the 3rd National Lok Adalat of the current calendar year shall be held on September 14, 2024.
In a special message, the Member Secretary informed all the stakeholders that the Supreme Court of India has decided to convene a Special Lok Adalat with effect from July 29 to August 3, 2024 of the cases pending before it and thus, he appealed all the stakeholders not to miss the opportunity and approach nearest Legal Services Office with the detail of cases.
In district Jammu, the National Lok Adalat was held today under the chairmanship of Sanjay Parihar (Principal District & Sessions Judge, Jammu) and supervision of Smriti Sharma, Secretary, District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) Jammu at District Court Complex, Janipur. A total of 25 Benches were constituted wherein the cases related to Bank Recovery, Criminal Compoundable, MACT, Matrimonial, NI Act u/s 138, other Civil cases and Traffic Challans cases were taken up. A total number of 46814 cases pertaining to different nature were taken up, out of which 46176 cases were settled and an amount recovered of Rs 4,97,75,048 was realized.
In Samba, the Lok Adalat was inaugurated by Adnan Sayeed, Chairman of DLSA Samba (also Principal District & Sessions Judge, Samba) at ADR Centre, District Court Complex Samba. Three Benches for settling the referred cases (both Pre and Post Litigation) were constituted. The Bench 1 comprised of Adnan Sayeed and Rekha Kapoor Nischal (Secretary, DLSA Samba), Bench 2 comprised of Preet Simran K Grover (Chief Judicial Magistrate, Samba) and Nisha Rani (Deputy Legal Aid Defence Counsel, Samba) while Bench 3 was comprised of Ananta Raina (Additional Special Mobile Magistrate, Samba) and Urvashi Raina (Additional Munsiff, Samba).
A total number of 658 cases were taken up for their amicable settlement out of which 552 cases were settled and an amount of Rs 10,07,35,367 was realized as settlement amount. Besides this, DLSA Samba also organized a Legal Awareness program on “Concept of Legal Aid with Special emphasis on Legal Aid Defence Counsel System” for the students of Government Higher Secondary School (Girls) and (Boys), Samba at Conference Hall, ADR Centre.
The Lok Adalat was inaugurated at District Court Complex Kathua by Ashok Kumar Shavan, Chairman DLSA Kathua (Principal District & Sessions Judge). A total of 7 benches were constituted to amicably settle the cases. The 1st Bench was comprised of Ashok Kumar Shavan and Cheena Sumbria (Munsiff, JMIC Kathua), Bench 2 comprised of Kusoom Pandita (Additional District & Sessions Judge Kathua) and Puneet Kumari (Deputy Chief Legal Aid Defence Counsel Kathua), Bench 3 comprised of Swati Gupta (CJM Kathua) and Neena Thakur (District Mobile Magistrate Kathua), and Bench 4 comprised of Jyoti Bhagat (Munsiff JMIC Billawar) and Poonam Gupta (Additional Special Mobile Magistrate, Billawar).
The Bench 5 comprised of Rimpi Rani (Munsiff JMIC, Hiranagar) and Vijay Kumar Sharma (president, Bar Association, Hiranagar), Bench 6 comprised of Jeevan Kumar Sharma (Munsiff JMIC Basholi) and Shub Kumar Sharma (Bar president, Basohli), and Bench 7 was comprised of Rajni Bhagat (Munsiff JMIC Mahanpur) and Deep Kumar (Advocate). A total of 6,349 cases of different nature were settled during the Lok Adalat and a recovery of Rs 63,16,160 was effected. Besides, in MACT cases, compensation of Rs 70,40,000 was awarded and a fine of Rs 4,59,800 in Traffic Challan and other petty offences were recovered from the defaulters.
In Rajouri district, the National Lok Adalat pertaining to all types of cases was held at District Court Complex Rajouri and in other courts under the chairmanship of R N Wattal, Chairman DLSA Rajouri (Principal District & Sessions Judge, Rajouri). In District Court Complex, three benches were constituted. The first Bench was headed by R N Wattal and he was assisted by Mehmood Choudhary (Additional District & Sessions Judge Rajouri) and Khilat Bhat (Advocate). The second Bench was head by Manjeet Rai (CJM Rajouri) and assisted by Mahjabeen Akhter, District Mobile Magistrate (Traffic Rajouri) and Somya Tahira (Advocate) while 3rd Bench was headed by Rayaz Ahmed Choudhary (Special Mobile Magistrate Rajouri), and assisted by Inderjeet Sharma (Advocate) & Sapna Kumari (Advocate). Similar benches were also constituted at Tehsil Level and were headed by the Presiding Officers of the respective courts.
A total number of 839 cases (both Pre-Litigation and Post-Litigation) were taken up before these benches out of which 617 cases were disposed off and an amount of Rs 7,22,735 was realized as compensation. From the Court of Principal District & Sessions Judge Rajouri and Additional District & Sessions Judge Rajouri, 16 MACT cases were taken up out of which 14 were settled and an amount of Rs 81,60,000 was awarded as compensation.
In Budgam district, the National Lok Adalat was organized in District Court Complex and Taluka Courts. Khalil Ahmad Choudhary, Principal District & Sessions Judge (Chairman, DLSA Budgam) inaugurated the Lok Adalat at District Court Complex Budgam. Each Court had identified cases for Lok Adalat before hand and same were placed before six different benches.
The Bench 1 was comprised of Khalil Ahmad Choudhary and Farah Bashir (Judicial Magistrate 1st Class/Munsiff Budgam), Bench 2 comprised of Noor Mohammad Mir (CJM Budgam) and Iqbal Wani (Advocate), Bench 3 comprised of Sheikh Gowhar Hussain (Special Mobile Magistrate Budgam) and Sharooq Ahmad Bhat (Deputy LADC), Bench 4 comprised of Mir Wajahat (Sub Judge Chadoora) and Nusrat Nabi (Advocate), Bench 5 comprised of Uzma Amin (Munsiff Chadoora) and Tajamul Abrar (Advocate), Bench 6 comprised of Massarat Jabeen (Munsiff JMIC Magam) In-charge (Additional Special Mobile Magistrate, Beerwah) and Shaista (Panel Lawyer) and Bench 7 was comprised of Fakhar-un Nissa (Judicial Magistrate IST Class/Munsiff Charai-Sharief) and Ashiq Hussain (Panal Lawyer, Charai-Sharief).
A total number of 548 cases were taken up for their amicable settlement, out of which 322 matters were settled. Besides, an amount of Rs 5,75,70,294 was realized in total in the settlement and an amount of Rs 2 lakh was provided as victim compensation, sanctioned by J&K Legal Services Authority.
In district Anantnag, the Lok Adalat was held in District Court Complex and other Taluka courts under the chairmanship of Jaffar Hussain Beigh, Chairman DLSA Anantnag (Principal District & Session Judge) and under the supervision of Tabassum Qadir Parray (Secretary, DLSA, Anantnag). Two Benches were constituted for the purpose. The first Bench was presided over by Balbir L Jaswal (Additional District & Sessions Judge, Anantnag) accompanied by Sarfaraz Nawaz (Special Mobile Magistrate, Anantnag) as member.
The 2nd Bench was presided over by Faizan ul Haq Iqbal (CJM Anantnag) and he was accompanied by Ishtiyaq Alam Baba (Munsiff, JMIC Anantnag) as Member. In addition to this, 1 Bench each was constituted at TLSC Bijbehara, TLSC Duru, TLSC Vailoo, TLSC Shangus and TLSC Ashmuqam. A total of 1347 cases of varied nature were taken up in the Lok Adalat and out of them 919 were amicably settled. Further, an amount of Rs 98,82,093 was realized in different cases.
The second National Lok Adalat of the year was held at District Court Complex Ramban and other sub-ordinate courts under the chairmanship and guidance of Chairman, DLSA Ramban (Principal District & Sessions Judge), Ranbir Singh Jasrotia. Advocate A R Mushtaq coordinated the crucial session. Eight benches were constituted across all courts of the district for amicable and speedy settlement of the cases. A total of 761 cases including, 701 Post-litigation and 60 Pre-litigation cases were taken up, out of which 521 Post-litigation and 07 Pre-litigation cases were disposed of with a settlement amount of Rs 89,10,800 in Post-litigation cases.
In Kargil district of Ladakh UT, the National Lok Adalat was organized by DLSA Kargil. Three benches were constituted for settlement of different kinds of cases pending in courts. The Bench was presided over by Fariqa Nazir, Chief Judicial Magistrate Kargil/Secretary DLSA Kargil. A total number of 52 cases were referred to the National Lok Adalat out of which 28 cases were disposed off and an amount of Rs 3,00,550 was recovered as settlement amount while Rs 5,000 as fine in different cases.
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