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Publication: Times Of India Delhi; Date:2009
Feb 09; Section:Times City; Page Number 2
Lok
adalat on fast track: 13K cases in 5 hrs
E-Solution To
Clear Backlog
Smriti Singh |
TNN
New Delhi:
Jaspreet Bhatiya had been struggling for years to get his home
loan case settled with the ICICI Bank in the court. Endless trips
to the courtroom only added to his misery. However, Bhatiya was a
happy man on Sunday, with his case settled within half an hour at
the mega lok adalat.
About 16,000
people turned up and around 13,000 cases related to cheque bounce
were settled within five hours on Sunday by 100 metropolitan
magistrates in a bid to clear the mounting backlog of cases
registered under the Negotiable Instruments Act. The first ever
paperless lok adalat held at all the five district courts
witnessed a speedy disposal of cases by going the eway. With ICICI
Bank providing 150 computers in all the five court complexes
connected to a centralised server for instant case disposal — by
avoiding the file process, the amount collected by the courts ran
into several crores. In one court at Patiala House, Rs 41 lakh
were collected by presiding officer Saurabh Pratap Singh through
the disposal of just six cases.
The Delhi
Legal Services Authority (DLSA), which organised the mega lok
adalat, also sought help from law students to manage the affair.
''About 10-12 students from the law colleges were placed at every
court to assist the litigants,'' said Sanjay Sharma, project
officer, DLSA. Patiala House got the best response with maximum
number of cases being disposed of from the court complex.
And it is no
surprise that with the success of the first paperless and digital
mega lok adalat, many more banks have approached DLSA for similar
initiatives. Banks like HDFC and Citibank have shown interest in
collaborating with DLSA to get their cases settled. Sources said
that representatives from both the banks are holding
talks with DLSA to work out lok adalats on similar lines. ''Talks
are on with these banks. If it materialises then paperless mega
lok adalats might become a frequent affair,'' said a source.
While
inaugurating the mega lok adalat on Sunday, Supreme Court Judge
Justice Arijit Pasayat, who is also the chairman of the National
Legal Services Authority, said, ''This paperless adalat, where you
do not need to bring your bulky case files to the court, is unique
and has added a new
feather in the cap of the DLSA.
It has also generated a new interest in litigants.''
Justice
Pasayat, however, asked the ICICI Bank to become more
consumer-friendly. Besides Justice Arijit Pasayat, A P Shah, Chief
Justice of the Delhi High Court, Justice Mukul Mudgal of Delhi HC
were also present at the inauguration. Sachin Khandelwal, head
real assets, ICICI Bank, later said that with the success of the
mega lok adalat in Delhi, the bank will be taking the idea of the
paperless lok adalat to Mumbai and Ahmedabad as well.
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