CHENNAI: Following the success of the Maha Lok Adalat in Madurai, where over 24,000 cases were disposed of, sitting Judges of the Madras High Court presided over Lok Adalat here on Saturday and disposed of 45 cases.

According to the Member-Secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority (TNSLSA), G.M. Akbar Ali, five different benches of the adalat disposed of the cases involving a claim sum of Rs. 1.15 crore. The cases pertained to accident claims involving insurance companies such as the United India Insurance, Oriental Insurance, National Insurance and the New India Assurance companies.

The adalat, conducted by Justices Chitra Venkataraman, K. Suguna, N. Paul Vasanthakumar, P.P.S. Janarthana Raja and M. Jaichandren, took up a total of 92 cases for consideration. The remaining 47 cases were adjourned to August 5 for further proceedings. District Judge and Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee M. Chinnappan, said that originally summonses had been issued for 151 cases. Only 92 had responded to the notices.

Besides the Judges, each of the Benches comprised an orthopaedic surgeon and a panel lawyer. Parties to the case were examined by doctors for ascertaining the extent of disability suffered by them in mishaps. The TNSLSA also engaged the services of counsellors who discussed the matter with the aggrieved parties before they appeared before the Bench.

Earlier, Justice Prafulla Kumar Misra inaugurated the adalat and outlined the benefits of resolving disputes through alternative dispute resolution mechanism such as the Lok Adalat. Two committee Judges - Justice P.D. Dinakaran, Justice K. Ravirajapandian - as also Justice R. Banumathi supervised the arrangements.

While a panel advocate of an insurance company welcomed the gathering, an advocate representing the claimants proposed a vote of thanks.

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