Chandigarh, December 11
Punjab State Legal Services Authority has organised National Lok Adalat throughout the State of Punjab as per the guidelines issued by the Centre as well as the State Government to curb the surge of COVID-19 under the visionary leadership of Judge, Punjab & Haryana High Court and Executive Chairman of Punjab State Legal Services Authority Mr. Justice Ajay Tewari.
The National Lok Adalat was held through physical as well as virtual mode. For 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 State of Punjab. In this Lok Adalat, total 360 Benches of Lok Adalat (both in physical and virtual mode) have been constituted in which approximately 1,38,000 cases are being taken up and are expected to be disposed of. Various long pending matters relating to matrimonial disputes, property disputes, cheque bouncing cases, labour matters, criminal compoundable cases, cancellation/untraced reports of various FIRs etc. were taken up. Apart from this, various awards have been passed with the consent of the parties. As per the provisions of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, the court fee is ordered to be refunded. The active guidance by the 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.
On this occasion, the people have also been made aware about 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.
Arun Gupta, Member Secretary, Punjab State Legal Services Authority has urged the general public to settle their grievances amicably in the Lok Adalats.
