India's first e-Lok Adalat organised via Video Conferencing in this State

On Saturday, amid the restricted judicial functioning owing to Covid-19 outbreak, an e-Lok Adalat is being held in Chhattisgarh to ensure the administration of justice continues where the virtual hearings are to be conducted through video conferencing.

The e-Lok Adalat intended to swiftly settle pendent cases is cited as the first such attempt in the country.

“Over 3 thousand cases will be heard in more than 200 benches of various districts across the state including the  high court in Bilaspur. There will be live streaming of an e-Lok Adalat to be inaugurated by the high court Chief Justice P R Ramchandra Menon”, said Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, executive chairman of the Chhattisgarh State Legal Services Authority.

In the wake of the financial crisis faced by the people and the lawyers owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the high court and Chhattisgarh State Legal Services Authority decided to organise e-Lok Adalat for resolving the pending cases.

“Cases related to money like settlements, accident claims, bouncing of cheques besides family disputes among others are usually resolved by Lok Adalat”, Justice Mishra said. 

In case the parties and lawyers face difficulty in connecting through video-conferencing, they can present their cases even through WhatsApp video call, he stated and further added that if the first time experiment to hold e-lok Adalat emerges successful, it will be continued further.

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