Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Saturday (August 3) noted the troubles people face to get justice in the courts and underlined the role of the Lok Adalats as alternative dispute redressal mechanisms. He said that people get “so fed up” with the matters of courts that they just want a settlement. Lok Adalats are forums where disputes and cases pending in courts or at pre-litigation stage are settled or compromised amicably. No appeal against the mutually accepted settlement can be filed.
What did the CJI say?
"Log itna trast ho jate hain court ke mamlon se wo koi bhi settlement chahte hain...Bas court se dur kara dijiye (People are so fed up with the matters of the court that they just want a settlement). This process is the punishment and that is a cause of concern for all of us as judges," Chandrachud said at the commemoration of the special Lok Adalat week at the Supreme Court.
He said that he received immense support and cooperation from everyone including the Bar and the Bench in setting up of Lok Adalat at every stage. The CJI said when the panels for the Lok Adalat were constituted, it was ensured that every panel would consist of two judges and two members of the Bar.
"The purpose behind doing this was to give ownership to the advocates over the institution because this is not an institution which is only run by the judges, and this is not the institution of the judges, for the judges, by the judges," he said.
"There is so much that we learn from each other. We learnt from the advocates about how much command they have over little procedural issues," the CJI added.
CJI highlights importance of Lok Adalat
The Chief Justice said that he felt that the Supreme Court may be located in the national capital but it is not known as Supreme Court of Delhi, rather the Supreme Court of India.
"Since I took over as the CJI, we have made efforts to bring officers from all over the country in the Registry. They bring great amount of inclusion and diversity," he said.
The CJI said the special Lok Adalat began with seven benches initially as "we were sceptical if we would be successful". "By Thursday we had 13 benches and there was so much work," he said.
"Purpose of Lok Adalat has been to take justice to the homes of people and ensure people that we are a constant presence in their lives," Chandrachud said.
(With PTI inputs)
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