Structure of Lok Adalats:

As per Section 6 of the Regulations of 2009, the Composition of the Lok Adalat will be as follows. There is a mix of legal and non-legal fraternity as members of Lok Adalat. The Supreme Court held that the entire idea of having non-judicial members in a tribunal like Permanent Lok Adalat is to make sure that legal technicalities do not get paramountcy in conciliation or adjudicatory proceedings of the Permanent Lok Adalat.

At the State Authority Level –

The Member Secretary of the SLSA is given the power to organize the Lok Adalat. Further, he is given the power to constitute benches of the Lok Adalat which shall comprise of a sitting or retired judge of the High Court, sitting or retired judicial officer and any one or both of- a member from the legal profession; a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes.

At High Court Level –

The Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee is given the authority to constitute benches of the Lok Adalat. Each of such benches shall comprise of the following:

1. a sitting or retired judge of the High Court and
2. any one or both of- a member from the legal profession;
3. a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes.

At District Level –

The Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority is given the authority to organise the Lok Adalat which would constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of the following :

1. a sitting or retired judicial officer and
2. any one or both of either a member from the legal profession; and/or
3. a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes or a person engaged in para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman.

At Taluk Level –

The Secretary of the Taluk Legal Services Committee is given the power to organise the Lok Adalat and  would also constitute benches of the Lok Adalat.

Each bench shall comprise of a sitting or retired judicial officer and any one or both of either a member from the legal profession; and/or a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes or a person engaged in para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman.

Types of Lok Adalats

The court in Interglobe Aviation Limited v. Sachidanand[5] mentioned the difference between Permanent Lok Adalat under Section 22-B(1) and Lok Adalat under section 19 of the LSA act, by drawing a distinction between the Permanent Lok Adalat, Continuous Lok Adalat and Lok Adalat.

According to the judgment Lok Adalats only have conciliatory powers whereas the Permanent Lok Adalat has both conciliatory as well adjudicatory powers. Therefore, the Lok Adalats of permanent nature constituted under section 19 of the LSA Act would be referred to as “Continuous Lok Adalats”. This observation of the court clarified the judgment given in the LIC V. Suresh Kumar. 

National Lok Adalat

National Level Lok Adalats, held at regular intervals on a single day Lok Adalats throughout the country, in all the courts right from the Supreme Court till the Taluk Levels. Here the cases often belonging to multi-national corporations are disposed of in huge numbers.

Permanent Lok Adalat

Permanent Lok Adalats are organized under Section 22-B of LSA Act, 1987. Permanent Lok Adalats have been set up as permanent bodies. It has a Chairman and two members for providing compulsory conciliation on public Utility Services like transport, postal, telegraph etc.

Here, even if the parties fail to reach a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat gets jurisdiction to decide the dispute, provided, the dispute does not relate to any offence. The jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalats is up to Rs. Ten Lakhs.

Benefits of Lok Adalat

1. There is no court fee and the amount will be refunded if the dispute is settled at Lok Adalat.
2. Procedural flexibility and speedy trial of disputes
3. No strict applicability of law as CPC or Indian Evidence act.
4. The award is binding and has the status of a decree of a civil court.