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Agency overview | |
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Formed | 1987 |
Jurisdiction | Supreme Court of India |
Status | Active |
Headquarters | New Delhi, India |
Agency executives |
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Website | https://nalsa.gov.in/home |
Lok Adalat[2] is a Statutory Organization under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, and was created as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism in India to resolve disputes/grievances outside the conventional court system.[3] It is a forum where cases pending before panchayat, or at a pre-litigation stage in a court of law, are settled. Under this Act, the award (decision) made by the Lok Adalats is deemed to be a civil court case and is final and binding on all parties. No formal appeal against such an award lies before any court of law. However, if the parties are not satisfied with the award of the Lok Adalat they are still free to initiate litigation by approaching the court of appropriate jurisdiction.[4]
1987 with a statutory status for using alternative dispute redressal mechanisms.[5] The first Lok Adalats were held in Gujarat[6] in 1982 and in Chennai in 1986.
Section 22 B of The Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 provides for the establishment of Permanent Lok Adalats (PLA) for exercising jurisdiction in respect of one or more public utility services (PUS). Section 22 A of The Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 states what constitutes 'Public Utility Services' for the purpose of Permanent Lok Adalat.[7]
Lok Adalats are constituted at below levels-National, State, District, and Taluk:[5][8]
Types of Lok Adalat:
Lok Adalats come under National Legal Services Authority[9] and the respective State Legal Services Authority.[10]
The office of NALSA is located at 12/11, Jam Nagar House, New Delhi-110011.[11]