CHANDIGARH, OCT 26
Punjab and Haryana Judge S K Mittal today said that a National Lok Adalat is being organized on December 6, in which target of solving about 75000 cases pending in all lower courts of Haryana has been fixed.
He said that on December 6, Lok Adalats will be organized in all courts right from the Apex Court to down to the lowest court through out the country. He said that in Haryana, about 5 lac 29000 cases were pending in various lower courts on September 30, 2014. Out of these pending cases, efforts were being made to settle about 75000 cases in this Lok Adalat. In Gurgaon district, he said, about 49300 cases were pending while Faridabad district has a pendency of about 47000 cases. In Haryana, the pendency of cases was more in both these districts, Mr Mittal commented. He said that a similar National Lok Adalat was organized on November 23, 2013, in which 2,72,414 cases were taken up, out of which 1,80,193 were settled.
Besides the cases pending in the judicial courts, the pending cases in courts of Deputy Commissioner, Sub Divisional Magistrate, Tehsildar, Consumer Courts, Tribunals will also be taken up in the Lok Adalat. The pending Revenue cases like registration of mutation, khasra girdawari, cases pertaining to benefits like pension cases, medical certificate, disputes of electricity bills, water bills, house tax and other services which the people ought to get from the government departments, would be taken up in the Lok Adalat.
According to Mr Mittal, the cases which are at the pre-litigative stage will also be taken up in the Lok Adalat, so the people whose cases are pending in various courts and which can be solved by reaching a consensus are advised to get their cases decided in the Lok Adalat. Similarly, petty cases like cases of Cheque Bouncing under S-138 of Negotiable Instruments Act and other compoundable cases would also be taken up in the Lok Adalat. In this way, about 5 lac people would be involved and instructions have been issued to authorities at various levels to settle maximum number of cases in the Lok Adalat. He said that a judge from High Court would be visiting each district on that day for supervision and monitoring.
Mr Mittal said that on an average about 6 lac cases came in various lower courts of the state in a year and the courts were solving about 6.25 lac cases annually. He said that now thrust was also being laid that cases were not unduly ‘delayed’ and strictness was done in such matters. He said that in Haryana, no case is pending for more than 20 years and about 600 cases were pending for 15 to 20 years while about 4000 to 5000 cases were pending for above 5 years.
He said that the judicial infrastructure in Haryana is unmatchable in the country. However, the court complex of Gurgaon which used to be among the best in the state, has now become congested for 60 judicial officers. So, a ‘Tower of justice’ would be constructed, for which foundation has already been laid. He said that 70 houses for judicial officers would be constructed in 3 acres of land in Gurgaon. He said that courts have been opened in Pataudi and Sohna Sub-Divisions of district Gurgaon and soon a new court will be opened in Manesar, Mr Mittal added.
The District & Sessions Judge Gurgaon Harnam Singh Thakur, District & Session Judge cum Secretary Haryana State Legal Services Authority Vikram Aggarwal were also present alongwith other judicial officers of the district.