Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Mar 7: Shocked and surprised over the manner the Chief Judicial Magistrate as presiding officer of Lok Adalat passed an award unilaterally in absence of necessary party and in violation and abuse of law, the High Court set aside the same and recommended for training to judicial officers about holding and conducting of the Lok Adalat.
Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul has set aside the award of compensation in lieu of diversion of traffic via link road by the Chief Judicial Magistrate Handwara in a Lok Adalat held in July 2019. “Lok Adalat is meant for conciliated settlement of disputes outside Courts and it is also called as People’s Court. Lok Adalat is aimed at to determine and to arrive at a compromise or settlement between the parties to a dispute in respect of any dispute or any matter which is falling within the jurisdiction of, and is not brought before, any court for which the Lok Adalat is organized. Lok Adalat can compromise and settle even criminal cases, which are compoundable under the relevant rules”, Justice Koul recorded.
The controversy involved in the matter was that an application was filed by on Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Tantray stating therein that his house in village Sunmulla was damaged due to diversion of traffic via link road by the R&B Department and the department through its Executive Engineer responded before the court below stating that house of respondent-Tantray was at reasonable distance from the link road and there was no likelihood of damage to his property.
The award of CJM is being primarily challenged on the ground that Lok Adalat has the jurisdiction to determine an issue only when parties arrive at a settlement and the said powers can be exercised only when both the parties consciously arrive at a compromise whereas in the present case there was no settlement between the parties that too when the applicant/respondent was not present in person so impugned order is not only illegal exercise of power but also clear transgression of the powers by the authority.
Justice Koul while holding the award passed in a mechanical manner and against the provision of law said, had not the award impugned been passed, the instant petition would not have been before this Court. “It is to be seen that upon passing of the order impugned, the petitioner-department had to engage the men and machinery for obtaining the award impugned, making inter se communications, obtaining the legal opinion what to do further vis-à-vis order impugned,” High Court said.
“Upon receiving the legal opinion for preparing/drafting the instant petition hiring the advocate and thereafter vetting the petition; and last, but not least, expending and utilizing funds from Public Exchequer for that matter, which could have been utilized for any ‘public welfare purpose”, Justice Koul said.
The court said that in order to avert the situation as has arisen in the instant case, where a Judicial Officer, holding the Lok Adalat, fails to comply with the Regulations of 2009 of Lok Adalat and any other laws governing the holding/conducting of Lok Adalats, and passes wrong orders as has been done in the present case, recommended the Judicial Academy to conduct such programmes where Judicial Officers are imparted the training about holding and conducting of the Lok Adalats and making them aware of about the laws applicable/prevalent.
The court further added that the award under challenged has been passed by CJM on merits of the case in disrespect of the provisions of National Legal Services Authority (Lok Adalats) Regulation 2009, and law laid down by the Supreme Court, which defeats the very purpose of Lok Adalat and reflects carelessness by the court below.
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