Madhya Pradesh: National Lok Adalat Settles 12,776 Cases, With Awards Of ₹97 Crore

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The National Lok Adalat organized on Saturday witnessed a massive settlement drive. A whopping 12,776 cases were settled across district headquarters, family court, labour court, District Consumer Forum and outlying courts in Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, Depalpur, Sanwer and Hatod.

Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, Shivraj Singh Gavli informed that out of the total number of cases, 3,683 pending cases were settled, including 961 motor accident claims, 1,094 cheque bounce cases, 254 compoundable criminal cases, 178 family disputes, 259 electricity cases, 111 civil disputes, 25 labour cases, 33 consumer cases, 7 bank recovery matters and 761 other compromise-based disputes. These led  to awards worth Rs 97 crore.

Along with this, 95,043 pre-litigation cases of banks, BSNL, electricity and the municipal corporation were taken up, of which 9,093 cases were resolved, ensuring a recovery of nearly Rs 18 crore.

Principal district judge Ajay Srivastava expressed gratitude to all judges, court staff, advocates and officials of various departments for ensuring the success of the Lok Adalat, which once again highlighted the efficiency of alternative dispute resolution in delivering speedy justice.

Indore family court: Lok Adalat reunites separated couples

The National Lok Adalat held at the Indore family court on Saturday brought smiles and hope to many families, as several long-pending disputes were peacefully settled. Among them, two emotional reunions stood out, of Juliee from UP and Ramesh from Indore and Neha from Indore and her husband Rajkumar from Pithampur.

Juliee (25), a homemaker from Jalaun and Ramesh Kumar (28), employed and residing in Nandbagh, had been living separately for over a year due to interference from family members. Despite their marriage in 2015 and having a four-and-a-half--year-old daughter, conflicts widened after repeated disagreements. Ramesh approached the family court in 2024 and after multiple counselling sessions, both realized their mistakes. With concern for their daughter’s future, they decided to reunite. The reconciliation was finalized in the Lok Adalat before additional principal judge-I Dhirendra Singh.

Similarly, Neha (27), a homemaker from Gandhi Nagar, Indore, and her husband Rajkumar Sharma (28), a government employee from Pithampur, also resolved their disputes. Married in 2023, the couple had a one-and-a-half-year-old son. Allegations of dowry taunts and misunderstandings had led Neha to file a case for maintenance, but with patient counselling and guidance from the court, both agreed to start afresh for the sake of their child. Their case too was amicably settled during the Lok Adalat proceedings.

Benches of first additional principal judge Dhirendra Singh, second additional principal judge S.C. Saxena, third additional principal judge Tajinder Singh Ajmani and additional principal judge Rakesh Kumar Jain heard the cases. The event saw active participation from advocates, including Pradeep Swami, PS Pawar, Jia Chauhan, Jitendra Singh Thakur, Pranay Sharma, Preeti Mehna, Vijay Rathore, and others, whose efforts played a key role in ensuring reconciliations.

According to Nazir Rakesh Gupta, a total of 335 cases were listed before four benches at the Lok Adalat. Out of these, 95 cases were resolved amicably, including nearly 20 matrimonial disputes where couples agreed to live together again after counselling.