NGO upset over ‘non-functional’ Lok Adalat

Abohar, August 9

The Permanent Lok Adalat Public Utility Services at Fazilka have become non-functional after the transfer of the new presiding officer within a short period of time.

A non-government organisation, Consumer Movement, took up the issue with the Executive Director of the Punjab State Legal Services Authority. The non-government organisation has said the first PLA chairman, JPS Behniwal, retired in October 2023. It added that most of the members of the Lok Adalat have retired and the quorum is not complete. The NGO said another Presiding Officer (Chairman) was appointed in March 2024; he joined in July, and some cases were taken up; however, he was transferred after a few days.

The NGO chairman, Satpal Khariwal, said in a letter to the PSLSA Executive Director that cases filed by Pawan Kapoor, Vinod Kumar, Anoop Singh, Prakash, Surinder Kumar, Ram Pratap, and others have been pending since 2019. Khariwal said in some of the cases, arguments had been made ten times; however, decisions regarding them were pending.

He said the purpose of filing cases with the Lok Adalat was to seek an inexpensive and speedy resolution. Besides this, the basic functionaries required for deciding disputes, such as steno, judgement writing, peon, and record keeping, among others, have not been provided.

The NGO urged PSLSA to appoint presiding officer, members, and other staff to make the court functional. — OC