Lok Adalat reunites couple after 50 years, settles record 7.65 lakh cases in single day in K'taka

A record 7,65,077 cases were settled in the Lok Adalats held across courts in the state, the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) has said in a statement.

The National Lok Adalat was conducted on June 25 in 20 benches of the High Court and 964 benches of the District Judiciary. These include the disposal of 2,64,464 pending cases and 5,00,613 pre-litigation cases. The highest single day disposal of cases by Lok Adalats was 6,16,715 on October 8, 2016.

Among the success stories in the recent Lok Adalats was the the reconciliation of a couple who were living separately for 50 years. The wife aged 80 and husband aged 85 reconciled in the Lok Adalat at Civil Judge Senior Division, Kalaghatagi. After conciliation, both parties settled the matter by way of reunion.

In another case cited by the KSLSA, a 101-year old woman and two women aged over 70 settled the property dispute between them after appearing before the Lok Adalat of Principal Senior Civil Judge, Hubballi. Notices were issued for recovery of more than Rs 1,000 crore in pending traffic violation cases.

A total of 2,23,590 traffic challan petty cases were disposed of as pre-litigation cases and fine amount of over Rs 22.36 crore was collected. A total of 1,46,437 revenue cases like Khata change, issuance of ID cards, pension etc were disposed of. As many as 5,585 bank recovery cases were also settled for a sum of over Rs 36.24 crore, the release said.

A total of 11,842 electricity bills and 99,866 water bills recovery cases were settled for a sum of over Rs 3.10 crore and more than Rs 25.04 crore respectively. Among the other highlights of the successful Lok Adalat was the settlement of a Negotiable Instruments case (cheque bounce) for an amount of Rs 7.75 crore, that was pending before the 6th Additional Small Causes Judge.