CHANDIGARH, NOVEMBER 8: A person suffering 90-per cent permanent disability in a road accident goes to a court to file his claim. After his statement, a replication statement is filed. Then the issues are framed and the case posted for evidence. The claimant leads the evidence, brings in witnesses and doctors to establish his case. Then the evidence of respondents is recorded. The insurance company representative also says his piece, following which the case is posted for arguments. Finally, it is disposed off on merits.If you are tired of reading this drill, so is the victim who ends up spending nearly four-to-five years in courts before the judgement is delivered. In most cases the insurance companies prefer to move the high court and then the Supreme Court before parting with the money.``This fellow was lucky to have come to the Lok Adalat where we made the insurance company pay him Rs 7 lakh on the very first hearing,'' says S.K. Sardana, who was the judge at the country's first permanent Lok Adalat in Chandigarh. He is the mastermind behind the experiment which could be the envy of justice dispensers anywhere in the world.The figures speak volumes about the success of the experiment. ``Twenty thousand approximately in a-year-and-five-months flat,'' Sardana says with pride.Following the Presidential assent to the Legal Services Authorities Act in 1995, India's first permanent Lok Adalat was set up in Chandigarh in January 1998 with Sardana as its judge. Also a member-secretary of the Union Territory's legal services authority, Sardana was able to soon gauge the scale of job at his hands.``We wanted to make the best of the legal services authority act. So, while initially provision was only for disposal of civil cases like motor accidents disputes and matrimonial matters by the Lok Adalats, I brought into its purview cases relating to Factories Act, Shops and Establishment Act, and those to do with service matters and thus enlarged the scope of the Lok Adalats,'' he told The Indian Express.There are many firsts that Sardana has to his credit, one of them being setting up of a legal aid cell right inside the Burail jail to provide legal help the undertrials and prisoners.As Sardana continued with his good work, he gradually found an immense sense of satisfaction doing what he normally gets little chance to do - persuading parties to come to an understanding.``You can't imagine the thrill it gives me when I get an estranged couple looking for divorce to reach an understanding for giving their marriage another chance. I have always found more satisfaction in preventing divorces than in granting them,'' he added.``But even when the relationship between spouses has passed a point of no return, the Lok Adalat helps in granting a quick divorce, saving both parties a number of years in courts. This way, they can, if they want to, go in for re-marriage and get hold of life's reins once again sooner rather than later,'' he said.``Gradually, as awareness about the legal services authority increases, more and more people would want to approach it rather than the regular courts since decisions of Lok Adalat cannot be challenged in any court. Once a decree is given, it is final and executable by the power of law enforcement agencies," Sardana says.Sardana, who has recently been transferred to Sonepat as the chairman of district Legal Services Authority, has continued the good work there. After setting up a permanent Lok Adalat there, he held its first sitting in August and the second one a month later, settling nearly 1,900 cases within weeks.Asked what was the secret behind such impressive track record, Sardana says: ``It is just that someone has to enjoy what he is doing. For me, it is the satisfaction of bringing justice to so many through a fast-track way. But then credit goes to those at the helm of judiciary whose brainchild the idea of Legal Services Authority was.'' Who all can approach Lok Adalat * Those with annual income less than Rs 30,000 (For Chandigarh and Punjab) * All women* Children* Anyone in custody* Anyone belonging to scheduled caste/backward caste* Those suffering due to a natural calamity How is it different from a regular court?*It can take up only compoundable criminal cases under Motor Vehicles Act, Shop and Factories Act, minor quarrels, land disputes, matrimonial cases etc. * It can take up even a case that is pending before another court. * It cannot take up any case in which a final decision has been given by a court. * Its decisions cannot be challenged in any court of law.
