A great relief: National Lok Adalat settles pending five lakh cases on December 13
Telegraph | 26 December 2025
Over five lakh cases were disposed of in the year’s last National Lok Adalat held on December 13.
Non-payment of loan dues, pending utility service bills, compoundable criminal cases that are considered to be of a petty nature, traffic challans and matrimonial disputes (except divorce cases) are some of the cases that can be resolved in the Lok Adalat.
Mohammad Sajjad Alam, 40, took a Mudra loan of ₹1 lakh before Covid. He had ₹82,000 outstanding.
Alam appeared before a bench of the Lok Adalat and, after some negotiation, the bench asked him to deposit ₹30,000 by March 31 and waived the remaining amount.
“I took the loan to run a small bag shop, but the business crashed. I now earn only ₹10,000 a month and do not have the means to return the entire amount. I am happy with the decision of the Lok Adalat,” Alam told Metro.
“It is better to pay the amount decided by the Lok Adalat and live with respect than keep on hiding my face because I did not repay the loan,” he said.
Officials of the West Bengal State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) said cases pending before a higher court or disputes that are still in the pre-litigation stage can be resolved in a Lok Adalat.
S. Arnab Ghoshal, member secretary of the authority, said the National Lok Adalat benches can take the burden off the regular court system and allow the courts to “devote greater time to more contentious issues”.
Indian courts suffer from an ever increasing backlog of cases. There were 461 National Lok Adalat benches across courts in Bengal, of which 23 benches were set up at the city civil court.
An SLSA official said over six lakh cases were taken up during the Lok Adalat on December 13, held in all courts across Bengal.
“Altogether 6,06,258 cases were taken up, and 5,32,279 were disposed of,” said the official.
At the city civil court, the benches dealt with cases related to institutions like the BSNL, Central Bank of India, Poonawalla Fincorp and State Bank credit cards and payments.
A bulk of cases that are taken up by the Lok Adalat are commercial disputes. Many of these are also related to people’s inability to repay loans.
Poonam Singhi, a deputy secretary of the state legal services authority, cited the example of a case that was disposed of during the last National Lok Adalat held in September.
“A woman who works as a house help had taken a loan, and ₹3 lakh was the outstanding amount. Considering her economic and social condition, she was asked to pay ₹7,000. The bank that offered the loan also agreed to the settlement,” she said.
In the SLSA office, the benches were constituted of one retired judicial officer and an advocate of Calcutta High Court as judges for the day.
“A Lok Adalat creates a win-win situation for both sides. The institution wants to recover whatever money it can, while the loan taker wants to pay off what he can and end the matter,” said Singhi.
Officials said parties involved in an ongoing litigation in any court can both agree and ask the court to refer the matter to the Lok Adalat.
Disputes in the pre-litigation stage, like over the boundary of two pieces of land, can also be resolved through Lok Adalat.
“Individuals can also approach us. We will issue notice to the other party and bring both parties to the table. One does not need to wait for the Lok Adalat for such opportunities. This window is open round the year,” said Ghosal.