Lok Adalat awards can’t form basis for contempt: HC

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that a Lok Adalat award does not carry the same legal weight as a court order and cannot be used as the sole basis for initiating contempt proceedings. The decision by the Division Bench Court of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Kirti Singh came on a contempt appeal filed against an order passed by the contempt Bench of the court.

One of the issues for adjudication before the Bench was whether an order passed by a Lok Adalat could lead to contempt proceedings, if it was not complied with. The Bench noted that the matter involved the non-compliance with a Lok Adalat award concerning a land acquisition dispute.

The court made it clear that Lok Adalats served a valuable role in alternative dispute resolution, but its awards were required to be ratified by the appropriate legal authority before being treated as enforceable court orders. Without such ratification, the award did not hold the same binding effect. As such, it could not form the basis for contempt proceedings. In this case, the Lok Adalat decision was not formally approved, so it could not be used to accuse anyone of contempt.

The Bench added that the order under challenge passed by the contempt Bench against the award of Lok Adalat was illegal. This, the court clarified, was because a Lok Adalat was not a court.

“Resultantly, the making of the impugned order based upon the award of the Lok Adalat, which is not a court, makes the impugned order suffer from a gross illegality and perversity,” the court observed.

At the same time, it made it clear that a contempt appeal was maintainable even in the absence of a final punishment order, as long as the contempt Bench has made a clear indication of its intent to punish the contemnor.

The Bench also emphasised that contempt jurisdiction was required to be exercised with caution, focusing on the dignity and authority of the court. However, it stressed that contempt proceedings should not be used arbitrarily, especially when dealing with orders related to bodies such as the Lok Adalat.