Mumbai: A fine of Rs 44.88 crore was recovered in 5.56 lakh traffic offences during the Lok Adalat held on Dec 14. While Lok Adalats are held at regular intervals, it was the first time that such large amount was recovered as fine, and such high number of cases were resolved.
According to an official, the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority organised the Lok Adalat in three High Courts, 34 district legal services authorities, and 305 taluka legal services committees under the guidance of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya.
The official said there was massive response from across the state, with 9.04 lakh pre-litigation cases and 1.74 lakh pending cases settled. Further, 52,455 pending cases were disposed of in a special drive in all the courts across state for five days prior to Lok Adalat.
State legal services authority Sameer Adkar, deputy secretary S A Deshpande, and under secretary Sameer Ingle conducted periodical meetings with district and taluka legal services committees for the success of the Lok Adalat. “Litigants are given guidance on the importance of Lok Adalats for the speedy disposal of pending cases,” a senior official said.
The official said cases settled included motor accident compensation cases, bank recovery claims, criminal compoundable offences, matrimonial disputes, and dishonour of cheques cases, among others.tnn
