The District Legal Services Authority will conduct a mega Lok Adalat on June 25 in its continuing drive to reduce pendency in courts and resolve long-standing disputes to pave way for reconciliation among litigants.
The Principal District and Sessions Judge .M.L.Raghunath, who is also the chairman of the DLSA, told media persons here on Friday that there are nearly 1.09 lakh cases pending in various courts in the district and those that can be resolved through this alternative redressal mechanism will be identified. This is subject to both the parties in a litigation agreeable to such a settlement as it paves way for mental peace and enables them to move on in life.
During the Lok Adalat held in March this year, nearly 55,000 cases were resolved and this included a 53 year-old property dispute that was settled amicably. Similarly, 45000 cases were settled in an earlier drive and Mysuru was ranked 1 st in the State on both the occasions in settling the maximum number of cases and drew appreciation from the High Court of Karnataka, said Mr. Raghunath.
The authorities want to emulate the same success in the June 25 drive and are in the process of identifying potential cases including those in the pre-litigation stage and stand a chance of being resolved.
Mr. Raghunath said there are about 22,500 cases pertaining to Negotiable Instruments Act, about 7,500 cases pertaining to partition suit, and 3,908 cases related to Motor Vehicles Act of which at least 50 per cent can be resolved.
Besides, some of the revenue related cases can be settled at the Assistant Commissioner or the Deputy Commissioner’s level and this will also help reduce the burden of the court, according to Mr.Raghunath.
In addition, there are 2,687 criminal cases related to petty offences in which sentence prescribed is not more than 3 years of imprisonment. This could range from assault to intimidation, theft, cheating etc and subject to both the parties agreeable to the settlement. In the forthcoming Lok Adalat, there are property related cases pending since 30 years and the authorities hope to resolve them.
Mr.Raghunath noted that matrimonial disputes are on the rise, especially in the urban areas and there were nearly 2,500 such cases pending in the district. During the last reconciliation exercise, about 30 cases were resolved and couples on the verge of divorce or having been divorced, were reunited. ‘So far there is no instance of couples – on having been reunited – approaching the court again over fresh differences’’, Mr.Raghunath added.
He said that there was more awareness of the altenrative dispute settlement mechanism in the urban areas and hence the response was also high from cities and towns. But not many parties and cases related to rural areas are being handled.
Devaraj Bhute, Senor Civil Judge and Member Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, M.Mahadevaswamy, President, Bar Association of Mysuru, and S.Umesh, Secretary of the Association, were present.
Litigants in Mysuru city may call 1800 425 0131 for details.
