The Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) has created a new record of amicably settling 7,65,077 cases in a day during the national Lok Adalat held on June 25 by breaking its own six-year-old record of settling 6,16,715 cases in a day.
Of these 7.65 lakh cases were settled amicably, 2,64,464 were from the cases pending in various courts in the State, and the remaining 5,00,613 cases were at pre-litigation stage before various statutory authorities in view of non-payment of traffic fines, electricity, and water bills, etc.
Octogenarian couple
Justice B. Veerappa, judge of the Karnataka High Court and executive chairperson of KSLSA, told presspersons on Monday that of the 1,128 matrimonial cases settled in the Lok Adalat, 107 couples, including an octogenarian couple from Kalagatagi in Dharwad district who were living separately for the past 50 years, were reunited.
While 222 cases, involving ₹5.85 crore pending before the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority were disposed of, a total of ₹6.17 crore was awarded as compensation while settling 194 disputes in the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, he said.
For the first time, Mr. Justice Veerappa said the cases pending before the State Information Commission were also included in the Lok Adalat and 97 pending cases were resolved.
He also said that 4,076 motor vehicle accident claim cases were settled resulting in award of a total compensation of ₹184.03 crore to accident victims and their family members, and the highest compensation of ₹2.03 crore was paid in one case.
A skit on Lok Adalat enacted by children in a television show on a private Kannada television channel were among the public awareness programmes taken up by KSLSA to encourage litigants to resolve disputes through the Lok Adalats, Mr. Justice Veerappa said.
