New Delhi, Mar 15 (PTI) Over 77 lakh cases were disposed of in the first national 'Lok Adalat' of 2022 conducted by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) on March 12.

NALSA in a statement quoted Supreme Court judge Justice U U Lalit, who is its Executive Chairman, as saying that “Quick and affordable access is key to the success of Lok Adalat”.

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"One more milestone has been achieved by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) in its first Lok Adalat of this year held in hybrid mode on March 12, 2022, which disposed of more than 77 lakhs cases," the NALSA said in a statement.

It said virtual mode of communication was put to the best use during the COVID-19 pandemic and 45 days pan India awareness campaign and outreach campaign from October 2, 2021, to November 14 last year was undertaken to touch every village in the country.

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"This re-vitalized the legal services institutions across the country. The flame of awareness was taken to every nook and corner to eradicate darkness and create awareness that every person is entitled to free and good quality legal aid," the statement said.

It said that increased participation of people in Lok Adalat proceedings has established that National Lok Adalats are an imperative mode of alternate dispute resolution to reduce overcrowded dockets of the Indian Courts.

"Some of the remarkable feats of the National Lok Adalat held in March 2022 have been as follows. A resolution of 30 years old property dispute in the state of Rajasthan where litigating son touched the feet of his mother. In Mysore, 53 years old partition suit has been settled amicably," the statement said.

"Justice U U Lalit, who believes that better legal aid will instil confidence in people, reached out to speak to the parties of partition suit and interacted with the woman suffering from paralysis virtually," it said.

On March 12, the NALSA had said that over 40 lakh cases were settled in the first national 'Lok Adalat' of 2022 and a whopping Rs 2,706 crore were awarded in such adalats held in 36 states and union territories.

It had said, as per the latest data available till 4.30 PM on Saturday, 1.38 crore cases were taken up for resolution through Lok Adalat, and out of these, 1.10 crore matters pertained to the pre-litigation stage, and the rest 28.34 lakh were pending in different courts in the country.

Total compensation of Rs 2706 crore was ordered to be awarded to litigants in the cases which included criminal compoundable, revenue, bank recovery, motor accident claims, matrimonial disputes, cheque bounce cases, and other civil matters, it had said in a statement.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)