The first of the four national-level Lok Adalats planned this year was held in Tamil Nadu on Saturday and as many as 76,599 cases were settled by over 400 benches in a single day, according to Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority (TNSLSA). The total amount awarded through the settlements was ₹334.91 crore.
A press release issued by TNSLSA said Supreme Court judge U.U. Lalit, in his capacity as the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority, had ordered the conduct of national lok adalats with respect to pending cases as well as pre-litigation matters on March 12, May 14, August 13 and November 22 this year.
Accordingly, Madras High Court Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari, who is the patron-in-chief of TNSLSA, and its Executive Chairman Justice M. Duraiswamy, ordered the constitution of four Benches each at the principal seat of the High Court in Chennai and in Madurai Bench of the High Court for settlement of cases.
Further, 419 Benches were constituted by the district- and taluk-level legal services authorities across the State. The Benches settled 64,348 pending cases and awarded ₹284.52 crore. Similarly, 12,251 pre-litigation matters were settled, and this led to the award of ₹50.38 crore, the release said.
Providing a break-up, it said 2,004 cheque bounces were settled through negotiation, leading to the award of ₹49.97 crore. The amount awarded through settlement of motor accident compensation cases was the highest as ₹144.85 crore was awarded through settlement of 3,157 cases.
Civil cases, matrimonial disputes (except divorce) and labour disputes were among the cases settled and 531 of them were more than five years old, said K. Rajasekar, Member Secretary, TNSLSA.
