Concept of Lok Adalat in India

Abstract

In recent time, the community world over has become more and more conscious about their rights. They frequently resort to redresses their disputes through Courts of law by way of litigation. However, owing to the complications of modern era, litigants want a decision without any undue delay. In India, the litigation, especially matters which are civil in nature are well known for prolonged pendency and are flooded by adjournments, appeals and revisions etc. Many tribunals, forums though have been created to reduce humungous workload upon the Courts. Besides, many mechanisms for amicable settlement of disputes such as negotiation, conciliation, mediation, arbitration, Nyaya-Panchayat and institution like Ombudsman, Lok Adalat have also been set up to provide rapid, effective and economical remedies, which are now available to the people along with Traditional Legal System and to ensure guarantee of equal access to justice. The present paper attempts to study the concept, origin and organization of Lok Adalats in India.