Thaindian News

New Delhi, Feb 27 (IANS) A Lok Adalat (peoples’ court) will be held here Sunday to settle some of the over 13,000 cases of domestic violence and matrimonial disputes on maintenance that are pending in lower courts, says an official of the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA).
Judges will try to mediate a compromise between husband and wife to end litigation swiftly. After this Sunday, such Lok Adalat sessions will become a regular feature on the first and third Sunday of every month.

“A Lok Adalat to settle matrimonial disputes is rare. The cases will be compromised before a presiding officer of the rank of an additional district and sessions judge along with an advocate who specialises in these cases,” DLSA project officer Sanjay Sharma told IANS.

“The Adalat is part of the authority’s exercise to lessen the burden of cases in lower courts. And we are sticking with our campaign of ‘No-cost-litigation’ for this. We want people to benefit from this opportunity,” he added.

According to the data provided by DLSA, 5,426 cases of domestic violence are pending in the five district courts of the capital.

“The Lok Adalat will also pursue cases of maintenance as this is also a vital problem between fighting couples. We have 7,700 cases of maintenance pending in different courts,” Sharma said.

“The benefit of this Lok Adalat would be that a litigant whose case is pending in any court can also come here and ask for his or her case to be pursued. We will be more than happy to attend to such requests and will solve them at the earliest,” Sharma added.

One court each will be set up at Rohini, Karkardooma, Tis Hazari, Patiala House and Dwarka court complex.

Explaining the driving force behind the matrimonial Lok Adalat, Sharma said: “The idea is to offer an informal platform for settlement of matrimonial disputes and at the same time decongest the courts of such matters.”

“It has been the priority of this authority to settle the disputes between the parties, particularly in matrimonial and family matters, at pre-litigative stage itself to save the time and money of the parties involved,” Sharma added.