Last Updated on March 15, 2019 by Legalseva.net
PERMANENT LOK ADALAT
The permanent Lok Adalat as per the amendment act of section 22-B of Legal Services Authority Act, 2002 has been now established at the district level. This particular body has been established as a permanent body with a Chairman who is either a district judge or has been one, is additional district judge or has held any office higher in rank of a district court judge and two members who are experienced in area of public utility services so as to provide compulsory pre-litigate mechanism for settling any dispute cases that are related to any Public Utility Services.
Even if two parties fail to make a settlement the Permanent Lok Adalat has the power to make a settlement for the parties in regards to settling of dispute however, the dispute must not be related to any offence.
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The Public Utility services include the following:
- Transport services for the carriage of passengers or goods by Air, Road or Water
- Postal, Telegraph or Telephone Service
- Supply of Power, Light or Water to the Public by any Establishment
- System of Public conservancy or Sanitation
- Service in Hospital or dispensary
- Insurance Services
- Banking Services
- Finance Services
- Immigration, LPG connection their supply and refill
- Adhar Card, Ration Card, Voter Identity Card and BPL Card
- Old age and widow pension
- Shagun Scheme and Unemployment allowance
- Public distribution system services
- Education or Educational Institutions; or housing and real estate service
- Any other services included through a Notification by the State Government, from time to time.
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The Permanent Lok Adalat has the jurisdiction of upto Rs. One crore where it has the full ability of coming to a decision for the two parties in dispute. The award settled and the decision taken by the Permanent Lok Adalat is binding for the parties.
In order to file a case that relates to Public Utility Services an application on a plain paper has to be presented to the Chairman of the Permanent Lok Adalat. Any individual, group of individual, company, firm, corporation or any other entity can file a case.
The copies of the file submitted shall be provided to each of the parties and further a settlement will be held by the PLA. The further cordiality depends on the cooperation between both the parties, which is to be assumed to be cordial in order to get best results.
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The basic advantages of filing a suit under Permanent Lok Adalat are as follows:
- PLA has a simple and sorted mechanism where any suffering party can appear in person.
- The settlements made here are based on friendly manner and on basis of merits so no unfair means are preferred here.
- There are no hard procedures followed by the law here.
- Since there is no court fee or necessary need of an advocate, the whole process here is very cost effective.
- Decisions given here are final and cannot be challenged against the award.
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If the Permanent Lok Adalat feels that the parties are at an acceptable stance and the reasons provided are fair the PLA can conclude the settlement. However the PLA is required to communicate the observations and terms of settlement it makes to the parties. On this the parties shall further approve the settlement by the means of signature it and further the award is to be passed. Again, at the end the copies must be handed over to both parties.
In case there is no conformity from both the sides, the PLA can extend the dispute further; there is no rule against it.
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In conclusion, this establishment of the Permanent Lok Adalat has proven to be highly effective, as it has simplified the procedure of court by eliminating the lengthy process. It is further a plus point for the corporations, companies and other big commercial mechanisms as an easy way can be now found for their problems.
The scope of the Permanent Lok Adalat for Public Utility Services has proven to be highly effective for the people who might be shammed due to the big corporations especially due to the fact that PLA’s are cost free and advocate free as well.
Also Read- LEGAL NOTICE BEFORE CONSUMER COMPLAINT
This post is written by Jagriti Mahajan of Kurukshetra University (KU, 2021) Batch. For more info on subject, please dial 99888-17966.
