Front Page   

Litigants get relief in minutes at Lok Adalat

IN QUICK TIME:Supreme Court judge P. Sathasivam (third from left), Madras High Court Chief Justice M. Yusuf Eqbal (left) and other judges persuading parties for a settlement at Madurai Bench on Saturday. — Photo: K. Ganesan.

MADURAI: Many a people, including parents who lost their children in road accidents, youngsters who were physically disabled and businessmen who fought bitter legal battle over cheque bounce cases, heaved a sigh relief on Saturday when their cases were solved at a mega Lok Adalat (People's Court) organised on the Madras High Court Bench premises here on Saturday.

The highlight of the event was when Supreme Court judge P. Sathasivam, Chief Justice of Madras High Court M. Yusuf Eqbal and other judges including Elipe Dharma Rao, F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla and R. Banumathi shed their black robes, sat along with litigants and successfully persuaded them to arrive at a settlement instead of fighting the cases in the court halls for years together.

The judges successfully negotiated settlements in more than three cases related to Section 138 (dishonour of cheque) of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

Rivals shake hands

They made the rival parties, who had been conducting the cases for long number of years in the lower courts and thereafter in the High Court, shake hands with each other forgetting the past and shunning their enmity.

In another case, they helped an aged couple from Tirunelveli get a compensation of Rs.5 lakh from an insurance company for the death of their only son in a road accident when he was pursuing a mechanical engineering course at a reputed college in Coimbatore. He died after falling down from a motorcycle driven by his friend and the lower court had granted a compensation of Rs.2.6 lakh.

Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed by the way cases were solved through negotiations, V.M. Loganathan (46), who had been waiting since 2001 seeking compensation for injuries he sustained in a bus accident, said: “I would not have conducted the case for 10 long years, had I known that it could be settled through Lok Adalat in less than 10 minutes.” He was awarded Rs.1.4 lakh in the Lok Adalat proceedings.

L. Pushpam (62) of Uthamapalayam in Theni district also happily accepted Rs. 1.5 lakh awarded for the death of her son in a bus accident in 2001.

“I lost my husband too immediately after the death of my son and was left with no financial support. This money would definitely help me for my livelihood. I am really indebted to the High Court for conducting this Lok Adalat,” she said.

1,000 cases identified

Hundreds of litigants from southern districts, insurance companies and transport corporations were invited to participate in the event. Working under the guidance of Ms. Justice Banumathi, the High Court Registry had identified 1,000 cases that could be settled through negotiations and posted them for hearing before seven different Lok Adalat panels headed by retired judges.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Taking stock
Litigants get relief in minutes at Lok Adalat
Panchayat polls in four districts on December 31
Firings are only in self-defence, says BSF
CPI(M) stages road roko
Krishnagiri to get printing cluster
Concrete to replace bitumen roads
Tirupur Corporation plans new project for drinking water
M.G. Road stretch closed till Monday

Copyright © 2010, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu