National Legal Services Authority: 3rd National Lok Adalat Of 2024

The 3rd National Lok Adalat of the year 2024 is going to be organised across the country on 14th September 2024 by legal services authorities nationwide, under the aegis of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and the stewardship of Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge, Supreme Court of India and Executive Chairman, NALSA. This nationwide event will be held simultaneously across various locations to facilitate the swift resolution of disputes and make justice more accessible to all.

Aligned with the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, and the National Legal Services Authority (Lok Adalats) Regulations, 2009, these Lok Adalats are pivotal forums, offering an expeditious, economical, and efficient alternative dispute resolution mechanism. The Lok Adalat, which has statutory status, settles disputes amicably and its awards are final.

The National Lok Adalat is a key component of India's legal system, designed to address and resolve disputes through a streamlined and cost-effective process. It offers a platform for settling pre-litigation and pending cases, including compoundable offences, plea bargaining, revenue cases, bank recovery cases, motor accident claims, cheque bounce cases, labour disputes, matrimonial disputes (excluding divorce cases), land acquisition cases, IPR or consumer matters and other civil cases. This holistic approach aligns with NALSA's mandate to providing comprehensive legal remedies.

The National Lok Adalat aims to reduce the burden on the traditional court system by offering litigants an opportunity to resolve disputes amicably. The positive outcomes from the National Lok Adalats in 2021, 2022, 2023 and the 1st & 2nd National Lok Adalat of 2024 are noteworthy, with a total of 810.30 lakhs cases settled in 2023 alone, 311.98 lakhs cases, with a disposal percentage of 41.53%, settled in the 1st National Lok Adalat of 2024 and 228.3 lakhs cases, with a disposal percentage of 54.51%, settled in the 2nd National Lok Adalat of 2024.

The 3rd National Lok Adalat will be organized across 27 States/UTs on September 14th, 2024. These include Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Puducherry (except Mahe), Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. In the remaining States, it will be organised subsequent to the Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam festivities.

The upcoming National Lok Adalat will deal with a broad spectrum of cases, demonstrating NALSA's commitment to ensure a justice delivery system which is just and equitable to all.