Content Provider | Supreme Court of India |
---|---|
e-ISSN | 30484839 |
Language | English |
Access Restriction | NDLI |
Subject Keyword | Legal Services Authorities Act 1987: s.20(3) - Lok Adalat |
Content Type | Text |
Resource Type | Law Judgement |
Jurisdiction | India |
Act(s) Referred | Constitution of India Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 (39 of 1987) |
Case Type | Appeal |
Court | Supreme Court of India |
Disposal Nature | Appeal Allowed |
Headnote | Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987:s.20(3) - Lok Adalat- Order passed by, without consent of judgment debtor- Effect of- Motor Accident Claim -Award -Appeal before High Court for enhancement of compensation - Referred to Lok Adalat for settlement- Lok Adalat enhancing . compensation without consent of judgment debtor, with liberty to aggrieved party to move the High Court - Application by judgment debtor rejected by High Court as not maintainable holding that order of Lok Adalat could be challenged only by a petition under Article 227 of the Constitution - Writ petition dismissed by High Court holding that order of Lok Adalat had attained finality - HELD: Order of Lok Adalat was not passed by consent of parties or in pursuance of any compromise or settlement between parties - Such an order is not an award of Lok Adalat - Being contrary to law and beyond power and jurisdiction of Lok Adalat, it is void in the eye of law - Single Judge of the High Court failed to notice this aspect and instead of perusing order of the Lok Adalat and hearing appeal on merits, proceeded on a baseless assumption that order of Lok Adalat was a binding award and therefore an application to hear appeal was not maintainable and the only remedy for appellants was to challenge order of the Lok Adalat by filing a writ petition under Article 227 of the Constitution - Order of Lok Adalat shows that it assumed a judicial role, heard parties, ignored absence of consensus and increased the compensation to an extent it considered just and reasonable, by a reasoned order which is adjudicatory in nature - It arrogated to itself the appellate powers of High Court and 'allowed' appeal and 'directed' the respondents in appeal to pay enhanced compensation - Lok Adalat exercised a power jurisdiction not vested in it - High Court twice refused to exercise jurisdiction vested in it, thereby denying justice and driving the appellants to Supreme Court - Orders of the Lok Adalat and the High Court are set aside - High Court would hear and expeditiously dispose of the appeal which continues to be pending on its record, on merits in accordance with law. Lok Adalat- Functions and powers of- Nature of- HELD: Lok Adalats have no adjudicatory or judicial functions - Their functions relate purely to conciliation -A Lok Adalat determines a reference on the basis of a compromise or settlement between parties at its instance, and puts itsĀ· seal of confirmation by making an award in terms of compromise or settlement -When Lok Adalat is not able to arrive at a settlement or compromise, no award is made and the case record is returned to the court from which the reference was received, for disposal in accordance with law- No Lok Adalat has the power to "hear" parties to adjudicate cases as a court does - It discusses subject matter with parties and persuades them to arrive at a just settlement - In their conciliatory role, Lok Adalats are guided by principles of justice, equity, fair play - It is true that where an award is made by Lok Adalat in terms of a settlement arrived at between the parties, it becomes final and binding on parties to settlement and becomes executable as if it is a decree of a civil court, and no appeal lies against it to any court - If any party wants to challenge such an award based on settlement, it can be done only by filing a petition under Article 226 and/or Article 227 of the Constitution, that too on very limited grounds - But where no compromise or settlement is signed by parties and order of Lok Adalat does not refer to any settlement, but directs a party to either make payment if it agrees to the order, or approach the High Court for disposal of appeal on merits, if it does not agree, is not an award of Lok Adalat- The question of challenging such an order in a petition under Article 227 does not arise - In such a situation, High Court should hear and dispose of the matter on merits - Lok Adalats should resist their temptation to play part of Judges and constantly strive to function as conciliators - Endeavour and effort of Lok Adalats should be to guide and persuade parties, with reference to principles of justice, equity and fair play to compromise and settle dispute by explaining pros and cons, strength and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages of their respective claims- Constitution of India, 1950 - Articles 226 and 227.Lok Adalat - 'Determination by' - 'Award by' - HELD: When LSA Act refers to 'determination' by Lok Adalat and 'award' by Lok Adalat, the said Act does not contemplate nor require an adjudicatory judicial determination, but a non- adjudicatory determination based on a compromise or settlement, arrived at by parties, with guidance and assistance from Lok Adalat - The 'award' of Lok Adalat does not mean any independent verdict or opinion arrived at by any decision making process - Making of the award is merely an administrative act of incorporating the terms of settlement or compromise agreed by parties in presence of Lok Adalat, in the form of an executable order under signature and seal of Lok Adalat - Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. |
Judge | Honble Mr. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan |
Neutral Citation | 2008 INSC 66 |
Petitioner | State Of Punjab & Anr. |
Respondent | Jalour Singh & Ors. |
SCR | [2008] 1 S.C.R. 922 |
Judgement Date | 2008-01-18 |
Case Number | 522 |
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