National Lok Adalat in Ramgarh Settles 18,194 Cases, Recovers Rs 14.29 Crore

A National Lok Adalat was organised at the Ramgarh Civil Court on Saturday under the guidance of Principal District and Sessions Judge-cum-Chairman of the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Mohammad Taufiqul Hasan, in accordance with the directions of the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority (JHALSA).

The Lok Adalat provided a platform for the speedy and amicable resolution of disputes across several legal categories. A total of 18,194 cases were disposed of during the proceedings, resulting in the recovery of Rs 14,29,83,046 in settlement and revenue.

Cases taken up during the National Lok Adalat included family and matrimonial disputes, matters under the Electricity Act, land acquisition disputes, civil and criminal appeals, bank and insurance-related cases, revenue matters, cheque-bounce cases and motor vehicle claim cases.

The National Lok Adalat is an alternative dispute resolution mechanism in which eligible cases are settled through mutual consent between the parties. Besides providing speedy resolution, the process helps save court fees, time and judicial resources while also helping preserve relationships between disputing parties.

Judicial officers, panel advocates and officials from various departments played an important role in facilitating the settlements.

DLSA Ramgarh Secretary Anil Kumar said eight benches were constituted to deal with different categories of cases.

Bench No. 1, comprising Principal Judge of the Family Court Rajiv Anand and Panel Advocate Amarnath Banka, handled family and matrimonial disputes.

Bench No. 2, headed by District and Additional Sessions Judge-I Vishal Srivastava along with Panel Advocate Nitesh Kumar, dealt with Electricity Act cases, claim cases, civil disputes and other matters.

Bench No. 3, comprising Senior Civil Judge-III Aarti Mala and Panel Advocate Bibi Zahida Khatoon, handled compoundable criminal cases and other matters.

Bench No. 4, headed by Senior Civil Judge-II Shivendu Dwivedi along with Panel Advocate Kaushal Kumar Sinha, dealt with land acquisition cases.

Bench No. 5, comprising Senior Civil Judge-IV Uttam Sagar Rana and Panel Advocate Bignesh Dubey, handled departmental matters, cheque-bounce cases and other disputes.

Bench No. 6, comprising Permanent Lok Adalat Chairman Virendra Kumar Tiwari and Advocate Abhinav Kumar, dealt with pre-litigation matters, bank and BSNL-related cases and other disputes.

Bench No. 7, comprising Consumer Forum President Shiv Kumar Shukla, Member Kumari Neena Singh and Panel Advocate Shivnath Thakur, handled consumer disputes.

Bench No. 8, comprising Electricity Department Certificate Officer Amit Amber Kachhap, Executive Engineer Sanjay Kumar Rana and Advocate Gyan Ranjan, dealt with certificate cases related to the Ramgarh Electricity Supply Circle.

The DLSA Secretary appealed to the public to make maximum use of the National Lok Adalat for obtaining speedy and amicable resolution of their disputes.

He also informed that seven cases related to the Bhairwa Reservoir, which were pending before Senior Civil Judge-II Shivendu Dwivedi, were disposed of during the Lok Adalat.

Officials said the National Lok Adalat provides a simple, speedy and mutually acceptable mechanism for dispute resolution, enabling both parties to reach a satisfactory settlement while reducing the burden of prolonged litigation.