Chandigarh, September 11:
As many as 86,204 cases were taken up before 378 Benches of the National Lok Adalat, which was organized throughout the State of Punjab today under the leadership of Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ajay Tewari, Judge, Punjab & Haryana High Court and Executive Chairman of Punjab State Legal Services Authority.
During this Lok Adalat, held through physical as well as virtual mode strictly adhering to the COVID-19 safety protocols, various long-pending matters relating to matrimonial disputes, property disputes, cheque bounce cases, labor matters, criminal compoundable cases, cancellation/untraced reports of various FIRs, etc. were taken up. Apart from this, various awards were passed with the consent of the parties. As per the provisions of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, the court fee was ordered to be refunded. The active participation by the Hon’ble Executive Chairman Mr. Justice Ajay Tewari proved as a catalyst in resolving a large number of cases and brought back the smile and hope on the faces of the litigants.
For the convenience of the Lok Adalat benches, Advocates as well as litigants, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for holding virtual Lok Adalat was implemented by all the District Legal Services Authorities in the state.
On this occasion, the people have also been made aware of the Toll-Free Number-1968 for any kind of legal assistance available to all the needy persons particularly the marginalized segments. The Front Offices set up at District and Taluka level in the premises of the courts, are in existence to guide the litigants for obtaining free and effective legal aid.
Mr. Arun Gupta, Member Secretary, Punjab State Legal Services Authority has urged the general public to settle their grievances amicably in the Lok Adalats.
