Patiala, May 11 - National Lok Adalat for all types of cases (except non-compoundable criminal cases) was held at District Patiala under the supervision of District and Sessions Judge-cum-Chairperson District Legal Services Authority Patiala Madam Rupinderjit Chahal. On this occasion, 32 benches (18 in Patiala, 5 in Rajpura, 3 in Nabha and 4 in Samana) were constituted in district Patiala.
A bench was also constituted in the Revenue Court of District Patiala for disposal of maximum number of cases related to transfer and distribution etc. Apart from this, a bench was also constituted at Women's Cell, Patiala to settle cases through mutual agreement before registration of matrimonial disputes cases. During this National Lok Adalat, 28401 cases under various categories were heard and a total of 13481 cases were settled by mutual consent and awards of Rs.61,41,90,692/- were passed. During the National Lok Adalat Madam Rupinderjit Chahal, District and Sessions Judge-cum-Chairperson, District Legal Services Authority, Patiala along with Madam Mani Arora, CJM/Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Patiala visited the Benches of this National Lok Adalat and The parties were encouraged to settle their disputes amicably.
Madam Mani Arora highlighted the many advantages of Lok Adalats. He emphasized that once a case is disposed of in a Lok Adalat, its decision becomes final and cannot be appealed. In addition, any court fees previously paid by the parties are refunded. This process ensures speedy resolution of disputes, according to mutually agreed terms of the parties involved, leading to a beneficial outcome for all. An important feature of the National Lok Adalat was the disposal of 164 family disputes cases pending in the Family Courts of Principal Judge Shri Munish Arora and Additional Principal Judge Mrs. Deepika Singh.