Idea behind Special Lok Adalat to settle small cases: CJI Chandrachud

New Delhi, July 29: The Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, said on Monday that the idea behind the six-day Special Lok Adalat, which started on Monday, is to settle small cases, while senior advocate Kapil Sibal termed it a historic day.

"The Lok Adalat is being held throughout this week by the seven benches of the Supreme Court. Our experience today was a resounding success. Lok Adalat, which has the cooperation of the bar, judges of the Supreme Court and extensive groundwork that has been done by the high courts, state governments and insurance companies. The idea is to settle small cases. People do not realise how small cases come before the Supreme Court," the CJI told ANI.

Giving an illustration of a few cases coming to the Lok Adalat, CJI said, "So we chose cases involving service disputes, labour disputes, land acquisition cases, motor accident claim cases, cheque dishonour cases..."

"Parties were contacted in advance by the district legal service authorities. They had pre-Lok Adalat sittings, which have helped facilitate the settlements," CJI said.

Speaking about the significance of the Lok Adalat, CJI said, "The presence of the members of the Bar as part of the Lok Adalat panel along with the judges has sent the right message across society that though the Bar and the Judges are on two different sides normally in Court proceedings, we are stakeholders who are united in our efforts to do justice, particularly to citizens involved in these small cases."

Referring to a case, the CJI said, " "I remember a case in which the husband had filed divorce proceedings in Patiala House Court and his wife had filed maintenance proceedings and filed for the custody of the children. Both of them came together in the pre-Lok Adalat sitting and both decided that they will live together. So when both of them came before the Lok Adalat court, I asked them, they said that they have decided to live together happily. The wife said that I do not want maintenance because we are living together very happily."