19. Dispute redressal mechanism and institutions in India · DISPUTE REDRESSAL MECHANISM AND INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA Chronicle IAS Academy [3] DISPUTE REDRESSAL MECHANISM AND INSTITUTIONS

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MECHANISM ANDMECHANISM ANDMECHANISM ANDMECHANISM ANDMECHANISM AND

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Chronicle IAS Academy [3]

DISPUTE REDRESSAL

MECHANISM AND

INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA

CHRONICLEIAS ACADEMYA CIVIL SERVICES CHRONICLE INITIATIVE

Article 21 of the Constitution of Indiadeclares in a mandatory tone that ‘no personshall be deprived of his life or his personal libertyexcept according to procedure established bylaw. The Right to Speedy Trial has been rightlyheld to be a part of Right to Life or PersonalLiberty by the Supreme Court of India. Thisliberal interpretation of Article 21 is to redressthat mental agony, expense and strain which aperson proceeded against in criminal law hasto undergo and which, coupled with delay, mayresult in impairing the capability or ability of theaccused to defend himself effectively. Thus, theSupreme Court has held the Right to SpeedyTrial as a manifestation of fair, just andreasonable procedure enshrined in the saidArticle.

Before formation of law Courts in India,people were settling the matters of disputethemselves by mediation. The mediation wasnormally headed by a person of higher statusand respect among the village people and suchmediation was called in olden days“Panchayat”. The Panchayat will be headed bya person of higher stature, quality and characterwho will be deemed to be unbiased by people ofthe locality, called Village Headman and he wasassisted by some people of same character orcadre from several castes in the locality. Thedispute between individuals and families will beheard by the Panchayat and decision given bythe Panchayat will be accepted by the disputants.The main thing that will be considered in suchPanchayat will be the welfare of the disputantsas also to retain their relationship smooth.Similarly in the case of dispute between twovillages, it will be settled by Mediation consistsof person acceptable to both villages and peoplefrom both the villages and the decision of suchmediation will be accepted by both villagepeople. The disputes in olden days seldomreached law Courts. They would be even settlingthe complicated civil disputes, criminal matters,family disputes, etc. Such type of disputeresolution maintained the friendly relationshipbetween the disputants even after resolution of

their disputes. But subsequently, this type ofPanchayat has failed due to intervention ofpolitics and communal feelings among thepeople.

But in a developing country like India withmajor economic reforms under way within theframework of the rule of law, strategies forswifter resolution of disputes for lessening theburden on the courts and to provide means forexpeditious resolution of disputes, there is nobetter option but to strive to develop Alternativemodes of Dispute Resolution (ADR) by esta-blishing facilities for providing settlement ofdisputes through arbitration, conciliation,mediation and negotiation. In this context, theGOI has set up different dispute redressalmechanisms to address the problem.

In essence the system are on:

• Mediation rather than winner takes it all.

• Increasing Accessibility to justice.

• Improving efficiency and reducing courtdelays.

Some dispute redressal mechanisms presentin India are discussed below:

ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL

With the acceptance of Welfare ideology,there was a mushroom growth of public servicesand public servants. The courts, particularly theHigh Courts were inundated with casesconcerning service matters. The Swaran SinghCommittee therefore, inter-alia recommendedthe establishment of Administrative Tribunals asa part of Constitutional adjudicative system.Resultantly the Constitution (42nd Amendment)Act, 1976 inserted Part XIV-A to the Constitutionof India consisting of Articles 323A and 323B.

Article 323A provides for the establishmentof Administrative Tribunals for adjudication ortrial of disputes and complaints with respect torecruitment, conditions of service of personsappointed to public services and other alliedmatters.

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Article 323B makes provision for the creationof Tribunals for adjudication or trial of disputes,complaints or offences connected with tax,foreign exchange, industrial and labour disputes,land reforms, ceiling on urban property, electionto Parliament and State Legislatures, etc.Parliament has power to enact any law underArticle 323A while both Parliament and StateLegislatures can make laws on matters of Article323B, subject to their legislative competence.

Types of Administrative Tribunals

There are different types of administrativetribunals, which are governed by the statues,rules, and regulations of the Central Governmentas well as State Governments.

• Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT)

The enactment of Administrative TribunalsAct in 1985 opened a new chapter inadministering justice to the aggrievedgovernment servants. It owes its origin to Article323A of the Constitution which empowers theCentral Government to set up by an Act ofParliament, the Administrative Tribunals foradjudication of disputes and complaints withrespective recruitment and conditions of serviceof persons appointed to the public services andposts in connection with the Union and theStates.

The Tribunals enjoy the powers of the HighCourt in respect of service matters of theemployees covered by the Act. They are notbound by the technicalities of the Code of CivilProcedure, but have to abide by the Principlesof Natural Justice. They are distinguished fromthe ordinary courts with regard to theirjurisdiction and procedures. This makes themfree from the shackles of the ordinary courts andenables them to provide speedy and inexpensivejustice.

The Act provides for the establishment ofCentral Administrative Tribunal and StateAdministrative Tribunals. The CAT wasestablished in 1985. The Tribunal consists of aChairman, Vice-Chairman and Members. TheseMembers are drawn from the judicial as well asthe administrative streams. The appeal againstthe decisions of the CAT lies with the SupremeCourt of India.

• Customs and Excise Revenue AppellateTribunal (CERAT)

The Parliament passed the CERAT Act in1986. The Tribunal adjudicate disputes,Complaints or offences with regard to customsand excise revenue. Appeals from the orders ofthe CERAT lies with the Supreme Court.

• Election Commission (EC)

The Election Commission is a tribunal foradjudication of matters pertaining to theallotment of election symbols to parties andsimilar other problems. The decision of thecommission can be challenged in the SupremeCourt.

• Foreign Exchange Regulation AppellateBoard (FERAB)

The Board was set up under the ForeignExchange Regulation Act, 1973. A person whois aggrieved by an order of adjudication forcausing breach or committing offences under theAct can file an appeal before the FERAB.

• Income Tax Appellate Tribunal

This Tribunal has been constituted under theIncome Tax Act, 1961. The tribunal has itsbenches in various cities and appeals can be filedbefore it by an aggrieved person against the orderpassed by the Deputy Commissioner orCommissioner or Chief Commissioner or Directorof Income Tax. An appeal against the order ofthe Tribunal lies to the High Court. An appealalso lies to the Supreme Court if the High Courtdeems fit.

• Railway Rates Tribunal

This Tribunal was set up under the IndianRailways Act, 1989. It adjudicates matterspertaining to the complaints against the railwayadministration. These may be related to thediscriminatory or unreasonable rates, unfaircharges or preferential treatment meted out bythe railway administration. The appeal againstthe order of the Tribunal lies with the SupremeCourt.

• Industrial Tribunal

This Tribunal has been set up under theIndustrial Disputes Act, 1947. It can beconstituted by both the Central as well as Stategovernments. The Tribunal looks into the disputebetween the employers and the workers in


matters relating to wages, the period and modeof payment, compensation and other allow-ances, hours of work, gratuity, retrenchment andclosure of the establishment. The appeal againstthe decision of the Tribunal lies with the SupremeCourt.

At present and in view of the decision of theSupreme Court in 'Chandra Kumar's case, theadministrative tribunals are rendering thefollowing diversified judicial duties/functions:

1. Functioning as a 'Court of first instance; byadjudicating the Original Applications(shortly called O.A.s) filed by theGovernment employees and also MiscellaneousApplications, Contempt Applications andReview Applications, arising out of them.

2. Adjudicating the cases remanded by theHigh Courts, in exercise of its power of'Judicial Review'.

3. Adjudicating cases remanded by theSupreme Court of India.

Advantages of Administrative Tribunal

Administrative adjudication is a dynamicsystem of administration, which serves, moreadequately than any other method, the variedand complex needs of the modern society. Themain advantages of the administrative tribunalsare:

a) Flexibility

Administrative adjudication has broughtabout flexibility and adaptability in the judicialas well as administrative tribunals. For instance,the courts of law exhibit a good deal ofconservatism and inelasticity of outlook andapproach. The justice they administer maybecome out of harmony with the rapidlychanging social conditions. Administrativeadjudication, not restrained by rigid rules ofprocedure and canons of evidence, can remainin tune with the varying phases of social andeconomic life.

b) Adequate Justice

In the fast changing world of today,administrative tribunals are not only the mostappropriated means of administrative action, butalso the most effective means of giving fair justiceto the individuals. Lawyers, who are more

concerned about aspects of law, find it difficultto adequately assess the needs of the modernwelfare society and to locate the individualsplace in it.

c) Less Expensive

Administrative justice ensures cheap andquick justice. As against this, procedure in thelaw courts is long and cumbersome and litigationis costly. It involves payment of huge court fees,engagement of lawyers and meeting of otherincidental charges. Administrative adjudication,in most cases, requires no stamp fees. Itsprocedures are simple and can be easilyunderstood by a layman.

d) Relief to Courts

The system also gives the much-needed reliefto ordinary courts of law, which are alreadyoverburdened with numerous suits.

Disadvantages of Administrative Tribunals

Even though administrative adjudication isessential and useful in modern day adminis-tration, we should not be blind to the defects fromwhich it suffers or the dangers it poses to ademocratic polity. Some of the main drawbacksare mentioned below.

a) Administrative adjudication is a negationof Rule of Law. Rule of Law ensuresequality before law for everybody and thesupremacy of ordinary law and dueprocedure of law over governmentalarbitrariness. But administrative tribunals,with their separate laws and proceduresoften made by themselves, puts a seriouslimitation upon the celebrated principles ofRule of Law.

b) Administrative tribunals have in most cases,no set procedures and sometimes theyviolate even the principles of natural justice.

c) Administrative tribunals often holdsummary trials and they do not follow anyprecedents. As such it is not possible topredict the course of future decisions.

d) The civil and criminal courts have a uniformpattern of administering justice andcenturies of experience in the administrationof civil and criminal laws have bornetestimony to the advantages of uniform


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procedure. A uniform code of procedure inadministrative adjudication is not there.

e) Administrative tribunals are manned byadministrators and technical heads whomay not have the background of law ortraining of judicial work. Some of them maynot possess the independent outlook of aJudge.

FAST TRACK COURTS

Indian jails are, in fact, brimming withprisoners. Against the sanctioned capacity of2.56 lakh, jails in the country are crowded bymore than five lakh inmates. This is resulting inall sorts of complications. Keeping this factor inview the States had together sought from theEleventh Finance Commission an aggregate ofRs. 3,700 crore upgradation grants to improvefacilities and infrastructure relating to jails. TheFinance body, however, provided 116 crore fora five-year period. This may be small consolation.But the fact remains that a Finance Commissionhas for the first time set apart a special grant forupgradation of conditions in jails.

The Finance Commission has hoped that theestablishment of additional courts and reformsin laws and procedures would result insubstantial reduction, if not elimination, ofpending court cases over a period of five years.

Thus a novel experiment aimed at clearingthe massive backlog in court cases has begun inthe country with the setting up of ‘fast track’courts in various states. Fast track courts aremeant to expeditiously clear the colossal scale ofpendency in the district and subordinate courtsunder a time-bound programme.

A laudable objective of the experimentalscheme is to take up on top priority basis sessionsand other cases involving undertrials. Anestimated 1.80 lakh undertrials are languishingin various jails in the country. A majority of themare behind bars on account of petty or minoroffences not warranting prolonged imprison-ment. Yet many of them are under lock up inthe absence of trial.

The fast track courts are expected tosubstantially reduce the number of undertrialsin jails. A vast majority of them will be set free,thereby reducing expenditure as well as burdenon jails. The State Governments are spending anaggregate of over Rs. 361 crore per annum on

the imprisoned undertrials at the rate of Rs. 55per head per day. Besides saving a bulk of thisexpenditure, the expeditious disposal of casesrelating to undertrials will address a serioushuman rights problem.

Under the government’s action plan, the fasttrack courts will take up as their next prioritysessions cases pending for two years or more,particularly in which the accused persons havebeen on bail. According to an official figure, thetotal number of cases pending in the nearly13,000 district and subordinate courts in thecountry is a whopping 2.40 crore (latestestimate). Of these, over 50 lakh criminal andover 25 lakh civil cases are pending for a periodranging from one to three years. These are inaddition to over 10 lakh pending sessions cases.The others are more than three years old. The21 High Courts account for over 34 lakhpending cases. Over ten per cent of these aremore than ten years old.

The scheme envisages the setting up of anaverage of five fast track courts in each districtof the country. Statewise distribution has,however, been done keeping in view thependency of cases and the average rate ofdisposal of cases in courts. Uttar Pradesh willhave the largest number of 242 additional courtsfollowed by Maharashtra’s 187, Bihar’s 183,Gujarat’s 166 and West Bengal’s 152.Karnataka’s tally is 93, Jharkhand’s 89, AndhraPradesh’s 86, Madhya Pradesh’s 85, Rajasthan’s83, Orissa’s 72, Tamil Nadu’s 49, Uttaranchal’s45, Kerala’s 37, Haryana’s 36, Chhatisgarh’s 31and Punjab’s 29. Assam will have 20 fast trackcourts, Jammu and Kashmir 12, HimachalPradesh 9, Goa and Arunachal Pradesh 5 eachand Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim andTripura 3 each. Jammu and Kashmir and Punjabare not content with the allotted number of fasttrack courts. They have notified to the Centrethat they will respectively establish 43 and 34additional courts.

The scheme further envisages theappointment of ad hoc judges from amongretired sessions/additional sessions judges,judges promoted on ad hoc basis and posted inthese courts or from among members of the Bar.Selection of judges will be done by the HighCourts. The Centre has directed the StateGovernments that consequential vacanciesresulting from ad-hoc promotion of judges be


filled through a special drive. This is called forin order that further pendency is not created inexisting courts of magistrates and civil judges.

As per the Centre’s action plan, the fast trackcourts will be required to dispose of 14 sessionstrial cases and/or 20 to 25 criminal/civil casesevery month. The State Governments and HighCourts have been requested to make effectivearrangement for representation on behalf of theprosecution and to ensure quick process service.

A unique feature of the scheme is that it isgoing to prove to be cost effective. This is sobecause the new courts have been charged withthe exclusive work of disposing of undertrialcases in the first year of their existence. A largemajority of undertrials being those who had beenbooked for petty/minor offences, they are boundto be discharged forthwith as most of them havebeen behind bars for periods which are longerthan the punishment warranted by the offence.In plain terms, this will mean a huge saving injail expenditure.

Analysis of Fast Track Courts

Ever since they were set up by the federalgovernment in 2001 to help tackle the casebacklog, more than 1,000 fast–track courts havedisposed of more than three million cases.

Many lawyers believe this is a considerableachievement given the fact that more than 30million cases are pending in High and Districtcourts in India.

To add to litigants' woes, there's also ashortage of judges as vacancies are not filled:High courts have 32% fewer judges than theyshould and District courts have a 21% shortfall.No wonder the ratio of judges is as low as 14per one million people, compared with over 100judges per million citizens in the US. Some yearsago, a Delhi High Court judge reckoned it wouldtake more than 450 years to clear the backloggiven the then judge numbers.

All this prodded the government to launcha scheme under which more than 1,700 fasttrack courts would tackle long-pending casesat a cost of $90m (£56.18m). An average of fivesuch courts were to be established in eachdistrict of the country. The judges were to be amix of retired high court judges and promotedjudicial officers.

But funding has been an issue. The centralgovernment said it could no longer fund the newcourts after March 2011, leaving future fundingdecisions to individual states. The result - somestates have done away with the courts afterfinding them too expensive to run.

Former Supreme Court Chief Justice KGBalakrishnan has said the fast track courts werequite successful in reducing the backlog of cases.But leading lawyer and rights activist ColinGonsalves says fast-track courts have not turnedout to be a "very satisfactory system of deliveringjustice". He told that people are " generally veryupset by the declining standards of these courtsand have defined it as 'fast-track injustice. " Thesecourts are given unrealistic targets of cases tofinish. They have been told they ought not getinvolved in too much technicality, and thatbroadly if they get a feeling that a person is guilty,then declare him guilty and if he is innocent, thendeclare him innocent."

The government was working on anotherproposal to allow states to use funds availablefor morning and evening courts to furtherincrease the number of fast-track courts, ademand raised by various sections of society toexpedite trial of pending cases, particularly thoseof sexual assault and heinous crimes.

The Law Ministry allowed setting up ofmorning and evening courts in 2010 but thescheme failed to take off with very few statesavailing the scheme leading to unused funds.Now, the government proposes to divert thisallocation towards setting up of fast-track courts,sources said.

The Centre had discontinued the fast-trackcourts scheme in March 2011 after running itfor over 11 years. However, several stateslike Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradeshdecided to convert these courts into regularcourts while some like West Bengal andMaharashtra continued to run more than 100such courts without the central contribution.

During the central funding of fast-trackcourts, between 2000 and 2011, Bihar ranmaximum number of such courts at 179 and thisalso resulted in reduction of a large number ofpending cases in the state. Under the scheme,the central assistance was limited to Rs. 4.80 lakhper court per annum for recurring expenditure


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and Rs. 8.60 lakh non-recurring expenditure.Any other expenditure incurred by states inexcess was to be borne by them.

Despite all these efforts, there are more than3.20 crore pending cases in different courts ofthe country. Of this, at least 2.76 crore cases arepending in subordinate courts while 44 lakh arepending in various high courts, according to thelaw ministry.

The addition of 2,000 judges in the lowerjudiciary for setting up fast–track courts iswelcome, but must be seen as no more than amodest beginning. The truth is that fast trackcourts are only an interim solution to an urgentproblem. In the final analysis, it is not onlyspecific categories of crime, like sexual offencesor corruption cases, that need to be dealt withspeedily by our judicial system. The principle ofjustice delayed being equivalent to justice deniedmust ultimately apply across the board. All cases,irrespective of the nature of the alleged offences,must be dealt with speedily. For that we needmore judges and a more efficient work culturein the entire judicial system not just in fast trackcourts.

GRAM NYAYALAYAS

Equality and justice are indisputably two keyfacets of the idea of a modern, democratic, andconstitution-adhering India. The principles ofequality and justice are realized by the Stateapparatus through the business of adminis-tration of justice. India’s judicial system ischaracterized by systemic problems, includingcorruption, delays, pendency, increasing costs,limited legal aid, and a lack of appropriatelytrained lawyers and judges.

To overcome these problems the LawMinistry had set up Gram Nyayalays in 2009with an aim to provide a cost-effective forum atthe grassroot level for the poor living in villagesto settle legal matters. It was established by theGram Nyayalayas Act, 2008.

This Act perpetuates the phenomenon of twoIndias – that of the better-resourced urban citizenwho can afford and has access to the courts, andthe other India of the impoverished–the moredisconnected rural citizen, who gets primaryaccess to forums that focus primarily ondisposing of their claims, minus the applicationof essential safeguards of the legal process –

lawyers, appeals, procedural protections, andevidentiary requirements.

The Gram Nyayalaya was proposed by the114th Law Commission way back in 1986. Thereport recommended the concept of the GramNyayalaya with two objectives. Whileaddressing the pendency in the subordinatecourts was the major objective, the otherobjective was the introduction of a participatoryforum of justice. To make it participatory theLaw Commission recommended that theMagistrate be accompanied by two lay personswho shall act as Judges, that the legal trainingof the Magistrate will be complemented by theknowledge of the lay persons who would bringin the much required socio-economic dimensionto adjudication. It was proposed that such amodel of adjudication will be best suited forrural litigation. The Law Commission alsoobserved that such a court would be ideallysuited for the villages as the nature of disputescoming before such a court would be ‘simple,uncomplicated and easy of solution’ and thatsuch disputes should not be enmeshed inprocedural claptrap.

Salient Features of Gram Nyayalaya Act, 2008which came into effect from Oct 2, 2009 are:

a) Gram Nyayalayas are aimed at providinginexpensive justice to people in rural areasat their doorsteps.

b) The Gram Nyayalaya shall be court ofJudicial Magistrate of the first class and itsPresiding Officer (Nyayadhikari) shall beappointed by the State Government inconsultation with the High Court.

c) The Gram Nyayalaya shall be established forevery Panchayat at intermediate level or agroup of contiguous Panchayats atintermediate level in a district or where thereis no Panchayat at intermediate level in anyState.

d) The Nyayadhikaris who will preside overthese Gram Nyayalayas are strictly judicialofficers and will be drawing the samesalary, deriving the same powers as FirstClass Magistrates working under HighCourts.

e) The Gram Nyayalaya shall be a mobile courtand shall exercise the powers of bothCriminal and Civil Courts.


f) The seat of the Gram Nyayalaya willbe located at the headquarters of theintermediate Panchayat, they will go tovillages, work there and dispose of the cases.

g) The Gram Nyayalaya shall try criminal cases,civil suits, claims or disputes which arespecified in the First Schedule and theSecond Schedule to the Act.

h) The Gram Nyayalaya shall follow summaryprocedure in criminal trial.

i) The Gram Nyayalaya shall try to settle thedisputes as far as possible by bringing aboutconciliation between the parties and for thispurpose, it shall make use of the conciliatorsto be appointed for this purpose.

j) The judgment and order passed by the GramNyayalaya shall be deemed to be a decree.

k) The Gram Nyayalaya shall not be bound bythe rules of evidence provided in the IndianEvidence Act, 1872 but shall be guided bythe principles of natural justice and subjectto any rule made by the High Court.

l) An appeal in criminal cases shall lie to theCourt of Session, which shall be heard anddisposed of within a period of six monthsfrom the date of filing of such appeal.

m) An appeal in civil cases shall lie to theDistrict Court, which shall be heard anddisposed of within a period of six monthsfrom the date of filing of the appeal.

n) A person accused of an offence may file anapplication for plea bargaining.

o) The proceedings will be carried out in thelocal language.

Analysis of Gram Nyayalayas

The Gram Nyayalaya, the latest judicialmechanism to provide access to justice at grassroots level although, looks beautiful from its face,but, there may be some practical difficultiesin its functioning. The problems may bedescribed as:

• About the adequate number of courts toaddress whole of rural India – Initially, itwas decided to form Gram Nyayalaya forevery 50000 people and estimated 6000Gram Nyayalayas were to be constitu-ted but at present the government has

declared 5000 Gram Nyayalayas only. How-ever, from the population and Nyayalayaratio it can be apprehended that thenumber of Nyayalayas cannot meet thewhole of rural India. So, many peoplecannot get the benefit of these courts.

• About adequate number of qualifiednyayadhikaries–About the appointmentof Nyaadhikaries, Section 6(2) of the Actprovides for adequate representation fromthe SC, ST, women and other categoriesshould be maintained, but, from the trendof employment in J.M.F.C of various Statesit is found that sufficient number ofcandidates for each category may not beavailable to be appointed to these posts.Thus, it may lead to vacancy of posts, hencedefeat the object of the Act.

• Regarding constitution of the courts- It ismentioned that Gram Nyayalaya is thelowest court of subordinate judiciary andintegral part of existing judiciary. It is acourt of JMFC, the magistrate/presidingofficer of this court will be called asNyayadhikari. But, the court structureprovided in Cr.P.C. does not provide foreither Gram Nyayalaya or Nyayadhikari,which may create confusion in the powersof the court.

• Regarding the court system – It is mentionedthat Gram Nyayalaya is to conduct thecases in close proximity of the cause ofaction and it will be a mobile court and theprocedure is of adversarial system of justiceand a time frame for judgment is alsoprovided in it. Thus the court must go tothe place of cause of action at the requestof the aggrieved party to decide the matter.For the time frame, it may not wait for theparties or witness to prove the particularfact in issue and pass order. A questionarises, what will happen if the oppositeparty or all the necessary parties in case ofcivil disputes are not available before thatmobile court within the stipulated time orif they want to avoid the court, andthe court makes an ex-parte decree or itgives the judgment from the facts andcircumstantial evidences it has in itspossession. Such a decision cannot givejustice to the effected party, there may also


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be violation of natural justice to them andfor which they may go to regular court forenforcement of their rights. In such casesthe object of the Act which is to reduce theburden of cases in courts will be defeated.

• In the matter of Summary trial and conceptof Natural Justice – It is provided in the Actthat, all proceedings in criminal cases havebeen made into a summary one. Twoimportant aspects of summary trial are thatcharges are not framed and only the gist ofthe evidence is recorded. What could begained if a full recording of evidence is givenup in favour of summary recordings. Bymaking summary trial, one is giving moreroom to the Judge to exercise his discretion.Further, concept of Natural Justice providesfor fair trial and protection from reasonablebias. In criminal cases, the duty of the State isto prove the case beyond all reasonabledoubts. By summary trial it may amount tonot providing sufficient opportunity to theaccused for defence and discretion of Judgemay turn arbitrary.

• Lastly, regarding the duties of Nyayadhikariit is mentioned that the Nyayadhikri has toassist, persuade and conciliate the partiesapart from their adjudicative function at thefirst instance of the case. But, if the Nyaya-dhikaries are to assist, persuade, conciliatethe parties, even with the assistance of theconciliators then they have to be exposedwith the individual litigants. In case themediation or conciliation of that particularlitigation has failed and the aggrieved partiescome for adjudication of the matter in thesame court, it may lead to a situationof favoritism or bias.

Suggestions to Improve Functioning of GramNyayalayas -

Regarding the number of courts, as it is inearly stage of constitution, the Government mayconsider the population court ratio from apractical point of view to form as many courtsto achieve the objective of the Act. Similarly,as the courts are to be opened in a phasedmanner, so the rule regarding reservation maynot be strictly adhered but sufficient steps shouldbe taken to empower the category of students/advocates to qualify for the post. This can be done

by (1) Assisting different Law colleges toorganize remedial courses for these students, (2)Creating awareness among the advocates to joinsuch jobs, (3) creating a sound legal educationsystem throughout the country. Regarding theanomalies in constitution of courts–Cr.P.C. is tobe suitably amended to insert Gram Nyayalayaand Nyayadhikari as a cadre of lower judiciarywith defined powers. Regarding the courtsystem the court must adopt the provision ofsufficient and reasonable notice to all parties andmust have the power to enforce attendanceof the parties before the mobile court. Regardingthe summary procedure and maintenance ofnatural justice, strict guideline for flexibility ofrecording evidence and use of discretionarypower should be prescribed. And lastly, aboutthe conciliation, mediation to be conducted bythe judges - more ethical standard moral valueshould be maintained by the Nyayadhikaries intheir work life, especially, while doing some actslike conciliation, etc. It would be better, if thejudges are not involved in conciliation directlyand do it through the help of Gram Sabha ofthat particular locality or conciliators appointedfor the purpose and accept only the conciliatorsreport for giving order in case of a successfulconciliation among the parties.

PARIVARIK MAHILA LOK ADALAT(PMLA)

The Constitution of India confers equal rightsand opportunities on men and women in thepolitical, economic and social spheres. TheMillenium Development Goal 3 – Promotegender equality and empower women. Threepronged strategy of empowering women hasbeen proposed. This include:

• Social Empowerment – ‘create an enablingenvironment through adopting variouspolicies and programmes for developmentof women, besides providing them easy andequal access to all the basic minimumservices so as to enable them to realize theirfull potential’.

• Economic Empowerment – ‘ensure provisionof training, employment and incomegeneration activities with both forward andbackward linkages with the ultimateobjective of making all women economicallyindependent and self reliant’.


• Gender Justice – ‘eliminate all forms ofgender discrimination and thus enablewomen to enjoy not only de jure but also defacto rights and fundamental freedom at parwith men in all spheres, viz., political,economic, social, civil, cultural, etc.

Thus to provide gender justice the conceptof Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat (PMLA) hasbeen evolved by the National Commission forWomen (NCW) to supplement the efforts of theDistrict Legal Service Authority for redressal andspeedy disposal of matters pending in variouscourts related to marriage and family affairs.

Matters Which can be Brought Before

Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalats

The following type of matters can be broughtbefore the PMLA:

• All civil cases.

• Matrimonial disputes, including divorce,maintenance (of wife, parents, children, etc.).

• Compoundable Criminal cases.

• Disputes related to Labour Laws.

• Motor Accident Claims.

• Bigamy.

Objectives of Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat:

• To provide speedy and cost free dispensationof justice to women.

• To generate awareness among the publicregarding conciliatory mode of disputesettlement.

• To gear up the process of organizing the LokAdalats and to encourage the public to settletheir disputes outside the formal set-up.

• To empower public especially women toparticipate in justice delivery mechanism.

Methodology

The Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat functionson the model of the Lok Adalat. The Commissionprovides financial assistance to NGOs or StateWomen Commissions or State Legal ServiceAuthority to organize the Parivarik Mahila LokAdalat.

The NGOs approach the DLSA or DistrictJudge and collect information about pendingcases of family disputes within the district. Then

the DLSA selects women related cases which areadmissible in the Lok Adalat, and makes relevantfiles/case papers available to the NGOs. NGOsthrough their counsellors approach the partiesand start counselling prior to the date of thePMLA to bring them to a compromise orsettlement. If settlement occurs then thesettlement will be noted down on paper in eachcase and the signatures of both the parties mustbe obtained on the document which will bepresented before PMLA for its legalauthentication.

Later the NGOs will organize PMLA on thespecified date on which the cases will be broughtup for settlement. At least 40% of the casesreceived from DLSA must be disposed of on thedate of PMLA.

The District Judge will appoint a PresidingOfficer, for the PMLA, who should be a Judgeand two or more members who can be judges,advocates or social activists. The Venue of thePMLA will be a suitable central place convenientto the panelists as well as the parties andpreferably premises other than a Court Room.The panel will authenticate the settlement on thedate of PMLA. Court decree will be issued asper the settlement and will be legally binding onboth the parties. After that the settled cases willbe withdrawn from the dealing courts.

NGOs shall not charge any fee from theparties.

Advantages

Advantages of the PMLA are that it ischeaper, it helps encourage the public to settletheir disputes outside the formal set-up, itempowers the public (especially women) toparticipate in the justice delivery mechanism,and ideally, cases are amicably settled bythe parties in a harmonious atmosphere.Interestingly, an award of the Lok Adalat hasthe same force as a decree by a Court of Law.

FAMILY COURTS

In 1975, the Committee on the Status ofWomen recommended that all mattersconcerning the family should be dealt withseparately. The Law Commission in its 59threport (1974) had also stressed that in dealingwith disputes concerning the family, the courtought to adopt and approach radical stepsdistinguished from the existing ordinary civil


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proceedings and that these courts should makereasonable efforts at settlement before thecommencement of the trial. Gender-sensitizedpersonnel, including judges, social workers andother trained staff should hear and resolve allthe family-related issues through elimination ofrigid rules of procedure. The Code of CivilProcedure was amended to provide for a specialprocedure to be adopted in suits or proceedingsrelating to matters concerning the family.However the courts continue to deal with familydisputes in the same manner as other civilmatters and the same adversary approachprevails. Hence a great need was felt, in thepublic interest, to establish family courts forspeedy settlement of family disputes.

Thus the reason for setting up of family courtswas the mounting pressures from severalwomen's associations, welfare organizations andindividuals for establishment of special courtswith a view to providing a forum for speedysettlement of family-related disputes. Emphasiswas laid on a non-adversarial method ofresolving family disputes and promotingconciliation and securing speedy settlement ofdisputes relating to marriage and family affairs.Finally, the Family Courts Act was passed in1984.

Section 3 of the Act empowers the Stategovernments after consultation with the HighCourt, to establish, for every area in the Statecomprising a city or town, whose populationexceeds one million, a family court. The criteriafor appointment of a Family Court Judge are thesame as those for appointment of a District Judgerequiring seven years experience in judicial officeor seven years practice as an advocate. TheCentral Government is empowered to make rulesprescribing some more qualifications. Apart fromprescribing the qualification of the Judges ofFamily Courts, the Central Government has norole to play in the administration of this Act.Different High Courts have laid down differentrules of the procedure. A need for a uniform setof rules has however been felt.

The Act provides that persons who areappointed to the family courts should becommitted to the need to protect and preservethe institution of marriage and to promote thesettlement of disputes by conciliation andcounselling. Preference would also be given forappointment of women as Family Court Judges.

It provided a platform to associateinstitutions engaged in promoting welfare offamilies, especially women and children, orworking in the field of social welfare, to associatethemselves with the Family Courts in the exerciseof its functions. The State Governments are alsorequired to determine the number and categoriesof counsellors, officers, etc. to assist the FamilyCourts.

The Act confers on all the family courts thepower and jurisdiction exercisable by anyDistrict Court or subordinate civil court in suitsand proceedings of the nature referred. These,inter-alia relate to suits between parties to amarriage or for a declaration as to the validityof marriage or a dispute with respect to theproperty of the parties, maintenance, guardian-ship, etc. In addition, the jurisdiction exercisableby a First Class Magistrate under Chapter IX ofthe Cr.P.C. i.e., relating to order for maintenanceof wife, children or parents, has also beenconferred on the family courts. There is also anenabling provision that the family courts mayexercise such other jurisdiction as may beconferred on them by any other enactment.Provision has also been made to excludejurisdiction of other courts in respect of mattersfor which the family court has been conferredjurisdiction.

Procedure Followed in the Family Court

It has been made incumbent on these courtsto see that the parties are assisted and persuadedto come to a settlement, and for this purposethey have been authorized to follow theprocedure specified by the High Court by meansof rules to be made by it. If there is a possibilityof settlement between the parties and there issome delay in arriving at such a settlement, thefamily court is empowered to adjourn theproceedings until the settlement is reached.Under these provisions, different High Courtshave specified different rules of procedure forthe determination and settlement of disputes bythe family courts. In the rules made by theMadhya Pradesh High Court, the family courtjudge is also involved in the settlement, and if asettlement cannot be reached then a regular trialfollows. It is also provided that the proceedingsmay be held in camera if the family court or ifeither party so desires. The family court has alsobeen given the power to obtain assistance of legaland welfare experts.


Section 13 of the Act provides that the partybefore a Family Court shall not be entitled as ofright to be represented by a legal practitioner.However, the court may, in the interest of justice,provide assistance of a legal expert as amicuscuriae. Evidence may be given by affidavit alsoand it is open to the family court to summonand examine any person as to the facts containedin the affidavit. The judgement of the familycourt is concise and simple, it contains the pointfor determination of decision and the reason forthe same. The decree of the Family Court can beexecuted in accordance with the provisions ofthe CPC or Cr.P.C., as the case may be. Anappeal against judgement or order of familycourt lies to the High Court.

The Act gives power to each of the HighCourts to make rules for the procedure to befollowed by the family courts in arriving atsettlements and other matters.

The Act was expected to facilitate satisfactoryresolution of disputes concerning the familythrough a forum, and this forum was expectedto work expeditiously, in a just manner and withan approach ensuring maximum welfare ofsociety and dignity of women.

The Act however does not define 'family'. Thematters of serious economic consequences whichaffect the family, like testamentary matters arenot within the purview of the family courts. Onlymatters concerning women and children -divorce, maintenance, adoption, etc. are withinthe purview of the family courts.

Analysis of Family Courts

The Act has brought civil and criminaljurisdiction under one roof. This was seen as apositive measure to centralize all litigationconcerning women. Secondly, the very natureof criminal courts facilitated quicker disposal ofapplications to a civil court. Thirdly, there wasseriousness and a sense of intimidationassociated with a criminal court, which wouldact in a woman's favour. Also the Act broughtunder one roof, matters which were handled byforty odd magistrates and at least two courts inthe city civil court, into five court rooms in thecity of Mumbai.

While the Act laid down the broad guidelinesit was left to the State Government to frame therules of procedure. However, most stategovernments did not bother to frame the rules

and set up family courts. Rajasthan andKarnataka were the first two states to set upfamily courts. But soon women litigants as wellas activists were disillusioned with thefunctioning of the courts. The overall situationis the same everywhere, with minor differences.In Tamil Nadu, the marriage counsellors keepchanging every 3 months and each time thewoman meets a new counsellor she has toexplain her problems all over again, with nocontinuity in the discussion.

Suggestions to improve functioning of FamilyCourts:

a) The Family Courts Act, 1984 was enactedwith a view to promote conciliation andsecure speedy settlement of disputes relatingto marriage and family affairs and formatters connected therewith. Though thiswas aimed at removing the gender bias instatutory legislation, the goal is yet to beachieved.

b) Mechanism of the family courts mustdevelop systems and processes, perhaps withthe help of civil society organizations, toensure that atrocities against women areminimized in the first place.

c) Family courts should align themselves withwomen's organizations for guidance inmatters related to gender issues. In thecontext of family courts, action forumsshould be initiated and strengthened byincorporating NGOs, representatives ofelected members and the active members ofthe departments such as Urban CommunityDevelopment, as members.

d) State level monitoring mechanisms could beestablished to review the functioning andoutcome of the cases related to women inthe family courts. Women judges and thosewho have expertise and experience in settlingfamily disputes should be appointed.

e) These special courts should have theauthority to try cases against an accusedeven if the female victim is not willing totestify or is bent upon withdrawing her case.

f) The marriage counsellors should not befrequently changed as it causes hardship towomen who have to explain her problemsafresh to the new counsellors each time.

g) The family courts committed to simpli-fication of procedures must omit the


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provisions relating to Court Fees Act. Eachadditional relief should not be charged withadditional court fee.

h) The Act and Rules exclude representationby lawyers, without creating any alternativeand simplified Rules. The situation hasworsened because in the absence of lawyers,litigants are left to the mercy of court clerksand peons to help them follow thecomplicated rules. Women are not evenaware of the consequences of the suggestionsmade by court officials. For instance, whena woman files for divorce and maintenance,the husband turns around and presses forreconciliation only to avoid payingmaintenance.

i) The setting up of family courts does not inany way alter the substantive law relatingto marriage. Divorce disentitles a woman tothe matrimonial home. Whether or not shegets maintenance during a separation orafter divorce depends on her ability to proveher husband's means. In a situation wherewomen are often unaware of their husband'sbusiness dealings and sources of income, itis difficult, if not impossible, to prove hisincome.

j) The other much neglected area of law forwomen is domestic violence. Wife beating isprevalent in all classes and yet there is noeffective law to prevent it or protect a womanagainst a violent husband. Such a law isurgently required.

LOK ADALAT

The concept of Lok Adalat is an innovativeIndian contribution to the world ofjurisprudence. The introduction of Lok Adalatsadded a new chapter to the justice dispensationsystem of this country and succeeded inproviding a supplementary forum to the victimsfor satisfactory settlement of their disputes. Thissystem is based on Gandhian principles.

The advent of Legal Services Authorities Act,1987 gave a statutory status to Lok Adalats,pursuant to the constitutional mandate in Article39-A of the Constitution of India, containsvarious provisions for settlement of disputesthrough Lok Adalat. It is an Act to constitutelegal services authorities to provide free andcompetent legal services to the weaker sections

of the society to ensure that opportunities forsecuring justice are not denied to any citizen byreason of economic or other disabilities, and toorganize Lok Adalats to secure that the operationof the legal system promotes justice on the basisof equal opportunity. Even before theenforcement of the Act, the concept of LokAdalat has been getting wide acceptance asPeople's Courts as the very name signifies.Settlement of disputes at the hands of PanchayatHeads or tribal heads was in vogue since ancienttimes. When statutory recognition had beengiven to Lok Adalat, it was specifically providedthat the award passed by the Lok Adalatformulating the terms of compromise will havethe force of decree of a court which can beexecuted as a civil court decree. The evolutionof movement called Lok Adalat was a part ofthe strategy to relieve heavy burden on the Courtswith pending cases and to give relief to thelitigants who were in a queue to get justice. Itcontains various provisions for settlement ofdisputes through Lok Adalat.

Salient features of Lok Adalat:

1) It is based on settlement or compromisereached through systematic negotiations.

2) It is a win–win system where all theparties to the dispute have something togain.

3) It is one among the Alternate DisputeResolution (ADR) systems. It is analternative to “Judicial Justice”.

4) It is economical – No court fee is payable.If any court fee is paid, it will be refunded.

5) The parties to a dispute can interactdirectly with the presiding officer, whichis not possible in the case of a courtproceeding.

6) Lok Adalat is deemed to be a civil courtfor certain purposes.

7) Lok Adalat is having certain powers of acivil court.

8) The award passed by the Lok Adalat isdeemed to be a decree of a civil court.

9) An award passed by the Lok Adalat isfinal and no appeal is maintainablefrom it.

10) An award passed by the Lok Adalat canbe executed in a court.


11) The award can be passed by Lok Adalat,only after obtaining the assent of all theparties to dispute.

12) Code of Civil Procedure and IndianEvidence Act are not applicable to theproceedings of Lok Adalat.

13) A Permanent Lok Adalat can pass anaward on merits, even without the consentof parties. Such an award is final andbinding. From that no appeal is possible.

14) The appearance of lawyers on behalf ofthe parties, at the Lok Adalat is not barred.(Regulation 39 of the Kerala State LegalServices Authority Regulations, 1998.)

Lok Adalats have competence to deal with anumber of cases like:

• Compoundable civil, revenue and criminalcases

• Motor accident compensation claims cases

• Partition Claims

• Damages Cases

• Matrimonial and family disputes

• Mutation of lands case

• Land Pattas cases

• Bonded Labour cases

• Land acquisition disputes

• Bank’s unpaid loan cases

• Arrears of retirement benefits cases

• Family Court cases

• Cases which are not sub-judice

Procedure

The procedure followed at a Lok Adalat isvery simple and shorn of almost all legalformalism and rituals. The Lok Adalat ispresided over by a sitting or retired judicial officeras the chairman, with two other members,usually a lawyer and a social worker. It isrevealed by experience that in Lok Adalats it iseasier to settle money claims since in most suchcases the quantum alone may be in dispute. Thusthe motor accident compensation claim cases arebrought before the Lok Adalat and a number ofcases were disposed of in each Lok Adalat. Oneimportant condition is that both parties in

dispute should agree for settlement through LokAdalat and abide by its decision. A Lok Adalathas the jurisdiction to settle, by way of effectingcompromise between the parties, any matterwhich may be pending before any court, as wellas matters at pre-litigative stage i.e., disputeswhich have not yet been formally instituted inany Court of Law. Such matters may be civil orcriminal in nature, but any matter relating to anoffence not compoundable under any lawcannot be decided by the Lok Adalat even if theparties involved therein agree to settle the same.Lok Adalats can take cognizance of mattersinvolving not only those persons who are entitledto avail free legal services but of all other personsalso, be they women, men, or children and eveninstitutions. Anyone, or more of the parties to adispute can move an application to the courtwhere their matter may be pending, or even atpre-litigative stage, for such matter being takenup in the Lok Adalat where upon the Lok AdalatBench constituted for the purpose shall attemptto resolve the dispute by helping the parties toarrive at an amicable solution and once it issuccessful in doing so, the award passed by itshall be final which has as much force as a decreeof a Civil Court obtained after due contest.

The award of the Lok Adalat is fictionallydeemed to be decree of Court and therefore thecourts have all the powers in relation thereto asit has in relation to a decree passed by itself. Thisincludes the powers to extend time inappropriate cases. The award passed by the LokAdalat is the decision of the court itself thougharrived at by the simpler method of conciliationinstead of the process of arguments in court.

Benefits of Lok Adalat

The benefits that litigants derive through theLok Adalats are many.

a) First, there is no court fee and even if thecase is already filed in the regular court,the fee paid will be refunded if the disputeis settled at the Lok Adalat.

b) Secondly, there is no strict application ofthe procedural laws and the Evidence Actwhile assessing the merits of the claim bythe Lok Adalat. The parties to the disputesthough represented by their advocates caninteract with the Lok Adalat judge directlyand explain their stand in the dispute andthe reasons therefore, which is not possiblein a regular court of law.


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c) Thirdly, disputes can be brought before theLok Adalat directly instead of going to aregular court first and then to the LokAdalat.

d) Fourthly, the decision of the Lok Adalat isbinding on the parties to the dispute and itsorder is capable of execution through legalprocess. No appeal lies against the order ofthe Lok Adalat whereas in the regular lawcourts there is always a scope to appeal tothe higher forum on the decision of the trialcourt, which causes delay in the settlementof the dispute finally. The reason being thatin a regular court, decision is that of the courtbut in Lok Adalat it is mutual settlement andhence no case for appeal will arise. In everyrespect the scheme of Lok Adalat is a boonto the litigant public, where they can get theirdisputes settled fast and free of cost.

e) Last but not the least, it has faster andinexpensive remedy with legal status.

The system has received laurels from theparties involved in particular and the public andthe legal functionaries, in general. It also helpsin emergence of jurisprudence of peace in thelarger interest of justice and wider sections ofsociety. Its process is voluntary and works onthe principle that both parties to the disputes arewilling to sort out their disputes by amicablesolutions. Through this mechanism, disputes canbe settled in a simpler, quicker and cost-effectiveway at all the three stages i.e., pre-litigation,pending-litigation and post-litigation.

Overall effect of the scheme of the Lok Adalatis that the parties to the disputes sit across thetable and sort out their disputes by way ofconciliation in presence of the Lok AdalatJudges, who would be guiding them on technicallegal aspects of the controversies.

The scheme also helps the overburdenedCourt to alleviate the burden of arrears of casesand as the award becomes final and binding onboth the parties, no appeal is filed in theAppellate Court and, as such, the burden of theAppellate Court in hierarchy is also reduced. Thescheme is not only helpful to the parties, butalso to the overburdened Courts to achievethe constitutional goal of speedy disposal of thecases. About 90% of the cases filed in thedeveloped countries are settled mutually by

conciliation, mediation, etc. and, as such, only10% of the cases are decided by the Courts there.In our country, which is developing, has unlikethe developed countries, number of Judgesdisproportionate to the cases filed and, hence,to alleviate the accumulation of cases, the LokAdalat is the need of the day.

Criticism

The right to appeal is one of the most basicfeatures of any sound legal system. It sproutsfrom the principle ‘to err is human’. It recognizesthe fact that it is impossible to be infallible always.Lok Adalats cannot proceed to pass awardsunless the parties to a dispute under itsconsideration, agrees to the passing of an award.In such a situation, by agreeing, the parties areestopping themselves from challenging itafterwards. In that case, denial of an appealprovision can well be justified. But a PermanentLok Adalat can proceed to dispose of a matterreferred to it even without the consent of theparties to such dispute. And the PLA does nothave to go by the rules of evidence contained inThe Indian Evidence Act. Moreover, a party canbe drawn to PLA, despite his wishes. In such asituation, denying a chance to appeal may notbe in consonance with our most cherished legalprinciple: Justice should not only be done, butshould manifestly and undoubtedly be seen tobe done.

Arbitration and Conciliation

Arbitration is a method for settling disputesprivately, but its decisions are enforceable by law.An arbitrator is a private extraordinary judgebetween the parties, chosen by mutual consentto sort out controversies between them.Arbitrators are so called because they have anarbitrary power; for if they observe submissionsand keep within due bounds their sentences aredefinite from which there is no appeal.Arbitration offers greater flexibility, promptsettlement of national and international privatedisputes and restricted channels of appeal thanlitigation. In the words of Richard Cobden “Atall events, arbitration is more rational, just, andhumane than the resort to the sword.”

Arbitration is a simplified version of a trialinvolving no discovery and simplified rules ofevidence. Either both sides agree on onearbitrator, or each side selects one arbitrator andthe two arbitrators elect the third to comprise a


panel. Arbitration hearings usually last only afew hours and the opinions are not public record.Arbitration has long been used in labour,construction, and securities regulation, but isnow gaining popularity in other businessdisputes. Litigation is expensive, time consumingand full of complexities.

Kinds of Arbitration

• Adhoc Arbitration: In the course of acommercial transaction if a dispute arisesand could not be settled amicably either byway of mediation or conciliation, the partieshave the right to seek Adhoc arbitration. Itis a process entrusted to a non-institutionwith all the procedural laws set out in specificagreement of the parties for that particulararbitration only.

• Institutional Arbitration: In this kind ofarbitration there will be a prior agreementbetween the parties regarding the institutionthat they will refer to in order to resolve theirdisputes in the course of a commercialtransaction.

• Contractual Arbitration: In the presentscenario, where the number of commercialtransactions as well as the number ofdisputes are increasing, the parties enteringinto a commercial transaction prefer toincorporate an arbitration Clause in theiragreement. The arbitration Clause providesthat if in future any dispute arises betweenthe parties they will be referred to a namedarbitrator(s).

• Statutory Arbitration: If by operation of lawthe court provides that the parties have torefer the matter to arbitration it is termed asStatutory Arbitration. In this kind ofarbitration the consent of the parties is notrequired. It is more of a compulsoryarbitration and it is binding on the partiesas the law of the land.

The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996provides two alternate methods of ADR:Arbitration and Conciliation.

Arbitration may be conducted ad hoc orunder institutional procedures and rules.Institutional arbitration is conducted under theguidance and well-tested rules of an establishedarbitral organization whereas under Adhoc

arbitration, the parties have to draft their ownrules and procedures to fit the needs of theirdispute. There are number of national andinternational organizations set up with the mainobject of settling commercial disputes by way ofarbitration and other alternative disputeresolution mechanism.

These organizations lay down rules for theconduct of arbitration. These rules, however,cannot override the Act. These organizationshandle the arbitration cases of the parties andprovide valuable services like administrativeassistance, consultancy and recommendingnames of arbitrators from the panel maintainedby them.

The Act contains general provisions onarbitration, enforcement of certain foreignawards, conciliation and supplementaryprovisions. The three schedules reproduce thetexts of Geneva Convention on the execution ofForeign Arbitral Awards, 1927, the GenevaProtocol on Arbitration Clause, 1923 and theNew York Convention on the Recognition andEnforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, 1958.The Act differs from previous Acts in manyways.

Firstly, where there is an arbitrationagreement, the judicial authority is required todirect the parties to resort to arbitration as perthe agreement, provided the application for thatpurpose is made before or when a writtenstatement on the merits is submitted to thejudicial authority by the party seekingarbitration.

Secondly, the grounds on which award ofan arbitrator may be challenged before the courthas been severely trimmed. For e.g., a challengewill now be permitted only on the basis ofinvalidity of the agreement, want of jurisdictionon the part of the arbitrator or want of propernotice to a party of the appointment of thearbitrator or of arbitral proceedings or a partybeing unable to present its case. At the same time,an award can now be set aside if it is in conflictwith “the public policy of India” — a groundwhich covers, inter–alia, fraud and corruption.

Thirdly, the powers of the arbitrator himselfhave been amplified by inserting specificprovisions on several matters, such as the law tobe applied by him, power to determine the venue


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of arbitration failing agreement, power toappoint experts, power to act on the report of aparty, power to apply to the court for assistancein taking evidence, power to award interest, andso on.

Fourthly, obstructive tactics sometimesadopted by parties in arbitration proceedings aresought to be thwarted by an express provisionwhereunder a party who knowingly keeps silentand then suddenly raises a procedural objectionwill not be allowed to do so. Fifthly, the role ofinstitutions in promoting and organizingarbitration has been recognized. Sixthly, thepower to nominate arbitrators has been given(failing agreement between the parties) to theChief Justice or to an institution or persondesignated by him. Seventhly, the time limit formaking awards has been deleted. Eighthly,present provisions relating to arbitration throughintervention of court when there is no suit.

Advantages of Arbitration over Litigation

1. Arbitration carries a number of advantagesover usual method of dispute resolution ofredressal through a court of Law.

2. Arbitration promises privacy. In a civilcourt, the proceedings are held in public.

3. Arbitration provides liberty to choose anarbitrator, who can be a specialist in thesubject matter of the dispute. Thus,arbitrators who are sector specialists canbe selected who resolve the dispute fairlyand expeditiously.

4. The venue of arbitration can be a placeconvenient to both the parties. Likewise theparties can choose a language of theirchoice.

5. Even the rules governing arbitrationproceedings can be defined mutually byboth the parties.

6. A court case is a costly affair. The claimanthas to pay advocates, court fees, processfees and other incidental expenses. Inarbitration, the expenses are less and manytimes the parties themselves argue theircases. Arbitration involves few proceduralsteps and no court fees.

7. Arbitration is faster and can be expedited.A court has to follow a systematicprocedure, which takes an abnormally longtime to dispose of a case.

8. A judicial settlement is a complicatedprocedure. A court has to follow theprocedure laid down in the Code of CivilProcedure, 1908 and the Rules of the IndianEvidence Act. An Arbitrator has to followthe principles of natural justice. TheArbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996specifically states that the Arbitral Tribunalshall not be bound by The Code of CivilProcedure, 1908 and The Indian EvidenceAct, 1872.

9. Section 34 of the Act provides very limitedgrounds upon which a court may set asidean award. The Act has also given the statusof a decree for the award by arbitrators.The award of the arbitrators is final andgenerally no appeal lies against the award.

10. In a large number of cases, ‘Arbitration’facilitates the maintenance of continuedrelationship between the parties even afterthe settlement.

It is quicker, cheaper, and more user-friendlythan courts. It gives people an involvement inthe process of resolving their disputes that is notpossible in public, formal and adversarial justicesystem perceived to be dominated by theabstruse procedure and recondite language oflaw. It offers choice – choice of method, ofprocedure, of cost, of representation, of location.Because often it is quicker than judicialproceedings, it can ease burdens on the Courts.Because it is cheaper, it can help to curb theupward spiral of legal costs and legal aidexpenditure too, which would benefit the partiesand the tax payers. In this juncture, few thingsare most required to be done for furtherance ofsmoothening the mechanisms. Few of them are:

• Creation of awareness and popularizing themethods is the first thing to be done.

• NGOs and Medias have prominent role toplay in this regard.

• For Court – annexed mediation andconciliation, necessary personnel andinfrastructure shall be needed for whichgovernment funding is necessary.

Training programmes on the mechanism areof vital importance. State level judicial academiescan assume the role of facilitator or active doerfor that purpose. While the Courts are never tired


of providing access to justice for the teemingmillions of this country, it would not be incorrectto state that the objective would be impossibleto achieve without reform of the justicedispensation mechanism. There are two waysin which such reform can be achieved - throughchanges at the structural level, and throughchanges at the operational level:

• Changes at the structural level challengethe very framework itself and require anexamination of the viability of thealternative framework for dispensingjustice. It might require an amendment tothe Constitution itself or various statutes.

• On the other hand, changes at theoperational level requires one to workwithin the framework trying to identifyvarious ways of improving the effectivenessof the legal system. Needless to say, thiswill considerably reduce the load on thecourts apart from providing instant justiceat the door-step, without substantial costbeing involved. This is also avoidingprocedural technicalities and delays andjustice will hopefully be based on truth andmorality, as per acknowledged conside-rations of delivering social justice.

NATIONAL LEGAL SERVICESAUTHORITY

The National Legal Services Authority(NALSA) has been constituted under the LegalServices Authorities Act, 1987 to provide freeLegal Services to the weaker sections of thesociety and to organize Lok Adalats for amicablesettlement of disputes. Actually, Article 39A ofthe Constitution of India provides for free legalaid to the poor and weaker sections of the societyand ensures justice for all. Articles 14 and 22(1)of the Constitution also make it obligatory forthe State to ensure equality before law and a legalsystem which promotes justice on the basis ofequal opportunity to all. In 1987, the LegalServices Authorities Act was enacted by theParliament which came into force on 9thNovember, 1995 to establish a nationwideuniform network for providing free andcompetent legal services to the weaker sectionsof the society on the basis of equal opportunity.

The Central Authority shall consist of –

1. The Chief Justice of India who shall be thePatron-in-Chief.

2. A serving or retired Judge of the SupremeCourt to be nominated by the President, inconsultation with the Chief Justice of India,who shall be the Executive Chairman; and

3. Such number of other members, possessingsuch experience and qualifications, as maybe prescribed by the Central Government,to be nominated by that government inconsultation with the Chief Justice ofIndia.

The Central Authority shall perform all or anyof the following functions, namely:-

• Lay down policies and principles formaking legal services available under theprovisions of this Act;

• Frame the most effective and economicalschemes for the purpose of making legalservices available under the provisions ofthis Act;

• Utilize the funds at its disposal and makeappropriate allocations of funds to the StateAuthorities and District Authorities;

• Take necessary steps by way of social justicelitigation with regard to consumerprotection, environmental protection or anyother matter of special concern to theweaker sections of the society and for thispurpose, give training to social workers inlegal skills;

• Organize legal aid camps, especially in ruralareas, slums or labour colonies with thedual purpose of educating the weakersections of the society as to their rights aswell as encouraging the settlement ofdisputes through Lok Adalats;

• Encourage the settlement of disputes byway of negotiations, arbitration andconciliation;

• Undertake and promote research in the fieldof legal services with special reference tothe need for such services among the poor;

• To do all things necessary for the purposeof ensuring commitment to thefundamental duties of citizens under PartIVA of the Constitution;

• Monitor and evaluate implementation of thelegal aid programmes at periodic intervalsand provide for independent evaluation ofprogrammes and schemes implemented in


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whole or in part by funds provided underthis Act;

• Provide grants-in-aid for specific schemesto various voluntary social serviceinstitutions and the State and DistrictAuthorities, from out of the amounts placedat its disposal for the implementation oflegal services schemes under the provisionsof this Act;

• Develop, in consultation with the BarCouncil of India, programmes for clinicallegal education and promote guidance andsupervise the establishment and workingof legal services clinics in universities, lawcolleges and other institutions;

• Take appropriate measures for spreadinglegal literacy and legal awareness amongstthe people and, in particular, to educateweaker sections of the society about therights, benefits and privileges guaranteedby social welfare legislations and otherenactments as well as administrativeprogrammes and measures;

• Make special efforts to enlist the support ofvoluntary social welfare institutionsworking at the grassroots level, particularlyamong the Scheduled Castes and theScheduled Tribes, women and rural andurban labour, and

• Coordinate and monitor the functioning ofState Authorities, District Authorities,Supreme Court Legal Services Committee,High Court Legal Services Committees,Taluk Legal Services Committees andvoluntary social service institutions andother legal services organizations and givengeneral directions for the proper implemen-tation of the Legal Services programmes.

In every State, State Legal Services Authorityhas been constituted to give effect to the policiesand directions of the NALSA and to give freelegal services to the people and conduct LokAdalats in the State. The State Legal ServicesAuthority is headed by the Hon’ble Chief Justiceof the respective High Court who is the Patron-in-Chief of the State Legal Services Authority.

In every District, District Legal ServicesAuthority has been constituted to implementLegal Services Programmes in the District. TheDistrict Legal Services Authority is situated in

the District Courts Complex in every District andchaired by the District Judge of the respectivedistrict.

Primarily, the State Legal ServicesAuthorities, District Legal Services Authorities,Taluk Legal Services Committees, etc. have beenasked to discharge the following main functionson regular basis:

• To Provide Free and Competent LegalServices to the eligible persons;

• To organize Lok Adalats for amicablesettlement of disputes; and

• To organize legal awareness camps in therural areas.

Advantages of the Movement:

It has helped overcome three impediments:

1) Economic inequality (legal aid) - the poorcan not afford good legal counsels to getthem out on bail, nor can they afford thebail amount. This was sought to beremedied by the provisions of legal aid andan attorney for all those below a certainspecified income bracket. They have a rightto be informed about the same, since beingilliterate and poor, they are often unawareof their rights.

2) Organizational impediments (diffusedinterests) - to facilitate collective action,since the individual was too small to playa significant role/effect a change.According to Justice Krishna Iyer, anotherreason for justice ‘on the streets, rather thanthe courts’ is that the Constitution with itsmandate of socio-economic rights is incontradiction with the colonial Justice andlaw hangover. These are not attuned to theIndian social realities and the ‘mystiques oflacunose legalese and processual pyramidswith sophisticated rules’, alongwith ‘slow-motion justice and high priced legal serviceshas led to victimization of the commonman.

3) Procedural obstacles (informal justice) -to overcome the current, traditionalprocedures through alternate disputeresolutions, specialized or small claimscourts such as the Family Courts or theLok Adalats, etc.


During the period from 1st April, 2011 to30th September, 2011 more than 6.95 lakhpersons have benefited through legal aid servicesin the country. Out of them, more than 25.1thousand persons belonged to the ScheduledCastes, about 11.5 thousand Scheduled Tribes,about 24.6 thousand were women and 1.6thousand were children. During this period,53,508 Lok Adalats were organized. These LokAdalats settled more than 13.75 lakh cases. Inabout 39.9 thousand Motor Vehicle AccidentClaim cases, compensation to the tune of Rs.420.12 crore has been awarded.

Analysis of the Working of NALSA:

The National Legal Services Authority wasset up in 1995 under the Legal ServicesAuthorities Act, 1987 to provide ''free andcompetent'' legal services to the needy.

According to the views of the Committeeheaded by E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan theprogramme lacked proper planning and sufferedfrom paucity of funds and failure at the level ofstates to utilise even the grants made. The actualbenefit of this scheme is not gaining access topoor litigants and the programme is ''confinedto high profile areas or capital cities only.''

To be eligible for legal aid, the annual incomelimit fixed by the central government for casesbefore the Supreme Court is Rs. 50,000.

Over the past decade, the Authority claimsto have aided 8.25 million individuals, besidesholding 4,86,000 Lok Adalats or conciliationcourts nationwide and settling 18.3 million cases.But critics say that tells little about the sort ofcases in which the Authority helped individuals,the quality of legal aid or the outcome. Nor doesit tells the plight of citizens who are neithereligible for legal aid nor can afford legal recourseon their own -- with no limits enforced onlawyers' fees or duration of proceedings.

As in ordinary cases, in aided cases, too, thequality of lawyering is a key issue, only perhapsmore so given the 'meagre' fees NALSAAdvocates supposedly get.

The Committee noted that counsels engagedfor the poor under the legal aid programme ''arepaid meagerly'' and ''good and reputed lawyersdo not come forward to take up the cases. EvenSenior Advocates do not take up such cases. As

a result poor litigants feel that legal aid beingprovided to them is mere eyewash.

The Committee recommended ''reasonably''enhancing the fee structure -- and standardisingit nationwide -- so as to draw experienced andcompetent lawyers to legal aid.

The Committee said that the government hasbeen providing adequate funds to NALSA fromyear to year. However, there has not been totalutilisation of the "allocated grants.''

Some Steps taken by NALSA to Bring Justiceat the Doorstep:

a) Para-Legal Volunteers

One of the problems faced by legal servicesinstitutions is their inability to reach out to thecommon people. It is in this context that theNational Legal Services Authority (NALSA) hascome up with the idea of para-legal volunteersto bridge the gap between the common personand legal services institutions.

The scheme seeks to utilise community-basedvolunteers selected from villages and otherlocalities to provide basic legal services to thecommon people. Educated persons withcommitment to social service and with a recordof good character are selected. The volunteersare trained by district legal services authorities.The training equips them to identify the law-related needs of the marginalised in their locality.Such needs include assistance to secure legalrights, benefits and actionable entitlementsunder different government schemes that aredenied to them. Coming as they do from thesame locality, they are in a better position toidentify those who need assistance and bringthem to the nearest legal services institutions tosolve their problems within the framework oflaw. They can assist disempowered people to gettheir entitlements from government offices whereordinary people often face hassles on account ofbureaucratic lethargy and apathy.

b) Legal Aid Clinics in Villages

In order to reach out to the common people,NALSA has come up with a project to set uplegal aid clinics in all villages, subject to financialviability. Ignorance of what to do when facedwith law-related situations is a common problemfor disempowered people. Legal aid clinics work


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on the lines of primary health centres, whereassistance is given for simple ailments and otherminor medical requirements of village residents.Legal aid clinics assist in drafting simple notices,filling up forms to avail benefits undergovernmental schemes and by giving initialadvice on simple problems. A legal aid clinic is afacility to assist and empower people who facebarriers to ‘access to justice.’

Trained para-legal volunteers are availableto run legal aid clinics in villages. The commonpeople in villages will feel more confident todiscuss their problems with a friendly volunteerfrom their own community rather than with acity-based legal professional. The volunteers willrefer any complicated legal matters that requireprofessional assistance to the nearest legalservices institutions. When complex legalproblems are involved, the services ofprofessional lawyers will be made available inthe legal aid clinics.

c) Free and Competent Legal Services

There has been a widespread grievance thatlawyers engaged by legal services institutions donot perform their duties effectively and that thelawyers are not paid commensurately for theirwork. In order to solve these problems, NALSAhas framed the National Legal Services Authority(Free and Competent Legal services) Regulations,2010 to provide free and competent legalservices. Scrutiny of legal aid applications,monitoring of cases where legal aid is provided,and engaging senior lawyers on payment ofregular fees in special cases, are the salientfeatures of the Regulations. In serious matterswhere the life and liberty of a person are injeopardy, the Regulations empower legal servicesauthorities to specially engage senior lawyers.

d) Legal Aid Camps:

NALSA has organized camps targetedneighbourhood itself. The people shall not bemade to travel long distances for the purpose ofattending camps. Instead of pompous inauguralfunctions and speeches, time, energy andresources shall be devoted on interaction withthe people. Local bar shall be encouraged toparticipate. Local voluntarily organizations,social clubs, colleges, universities and othereducational institutions shall be engaged to joinas partners in such ventures for mutual benefit.

e) Student Legal Aid Clinics

Association of law students with the workof providing legal services would not only helpthe cause of legal services but also give to theyoung students a sense of identification andinvolvement with the cause of the poor.

The legal aid clinic is an excellent medium toteach professional responsibility and a greatersense of public service. The law school legal aidclinic is a viable and effective instrument forcommunity education and preventive legalservices programme. Inclusion of the lawstudents in legal aid will contribute towards abetter legal education, socially relevant andprofessionally valuable. The law school clinicscan plough back into the legal curriculum andwill be a goldmine of information that can makelearning and teaching of law stimulating,challenging and productive.

Law school legal aid clinic can be located atthe law colleges premises itself which will be anexcellent source for study of conflicts in civilsociety.

Each State Authority shall prepare a lawschool legal aid manual depending on the localneeds of the State.

The law students shall be encouraged to forminto different groups, each group adopting avillage, preferably a remote village. The studentswho have adopted a village may conduct socio-legal surveys in that village. The questionnairein the surveys may be prepared in consultationwith the teachers of the law schools, the contentsof which may vary depending on the localcircumstances. The questionnaire shall besufficient enough to gather the problems facedby villagers, especially relating to their legalrights.

The nature of disputes, if any, inter-se theinhabitants of the village may be identified andthey may be encouraged to resolve the disputesamicably through the ADR techniques likeconciliation, mediation, Lok Adalat, etc. For thispurpose, the students may seek the help of theirteachers, and if necessary, of the nearest legalservices institutions.

The students shall be encouraged to organizelegal awareness classes for small groups of people(4 or 5 houses together or 10 to 12 people). Itshould be more in the form of informalgatherings.


In appropriate cases, senior students andpost-graduate students who have alreadyenrolled as lawyers may be entrusted with thefiling and conducting of the litigation in thecourts, free of cost.

The students may adopt colonies and slumareas in urban locations also where economicallyand socially backward people reside. Such areasalso may be chosen for setting up of legal aidclinics.

f) Legal Aid Clinics in Jails

Prisoners are doubly handicapped persons.Most of them belong to lower strata of thesociety, both socially and economically.Secondly, they are incommunicado, walled-offfrom the world. But they being citizens of Indiaare entitled to protect their rights enshrined inArticle 21 of the Constitution and its variants.Therefore, it is highly essential that prisoners alsoare given legal aid especially in matters relatingto defending or prosecuting their cases andappeals and also legal problems they and theirfamily might face on account of their beingbehind the bars.

The legal aid clinics in Jails shall be run underthe District Legal Services Authorities. Panel oflawyers selected in consultation with the localbar association may be deployed for manningthe legal aid clinics in prisons. Services ofsociologists and psychiatrists also may be availedof while providing legal aid to the prisoners.

The applications, appeals and petitions fromthe prisoners may be forwarded to theappropriate authorities and courts as expedi-tiously as possible. Their pleas in relation to theremission, parole, etc. also may be assisted andattended to by the legal aid counsel deputed tosuch clinics in Jails.

REDRESSAL MECHANISM FORDISPUTES RELATED TO

WEAKER SECTION

There are several Constitutional andstatutory institutions which look into complaintsfiled by citizens:

a) National Human Rights Commission:Regarding violation of or abetment ofviolation of human rights or negligence inthe conduct of public servants in suchviolation.{Section 12(a). The Protection ofHuman Rights Act, 1993}.

b) State Human Rights Commission: similarto above. {Section 29. The Protection ofHuman Rights Act, 1993}.

c) National Commission for Women:Regarding deprivation of womens’ rights,non-implementation of laws providingprotection to women, etc. {Section 10(f). TheNational Commission for Women Act,1990}.

d) National Commission for ScheduledCastes: Regarding complaints withrespect to deprivation of rights and safe-guards of the Scheduled Castes. Article338 (5)(b).

e) National Commission for ScheduledTribes: Regarding complaints with respectto deprivation of rights and safeguards ofthe Scheduled Tribes. Article 338A (5)(b).

f) State Commissions for Women: Regardingcomplaints relating to deprivation ofwomens’ rights, non-implementation oflaws providing protection to women, etc.{For example, Section 10(1)(f) of theMaharashtra State Commission Act, 1993}.

g) National Commission for Protection ofChild Rights: Regarding deprivation andviolation of child’s rights and non-implementation of laws providing protec-tion to children. {Section 13(f). TheCommissions for Protection of Child RightsAct, 2005}.

h) State Commissions for Protection of ChildRights: Regarding deprivation and violationof child’s rights and non-implementationof laws providing protection to children.Section 24. {The Commissions for Protectionof Child Rights Act, 2005}.

i) National Consumer Disputes RedressalCommission, State Consumer DisputesRedressal Forum, District ConsumerDisputes Redressal Forum: Regardingcomplaints in relation to any goods orservice sold or provided for a consideration.{Section 12, Consumer Protection Act,1986}.

These are all institutions constituted forproviding special focus on redressing thegrievances of specific sections of society but theissues related to these mechanisms are listedbelow:


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There is a lack of coordination among thedifferent organizations. The suggestion formerging of the Commissions came from differentexperts, particularly in larger States, isimpracticable and would fail to adequatelyaddress the special problems of differentdisadvantaged groups. However, this may bepossible in case of some of the much smallerStates where the various Commissions to redressthe grievances of different sections of societycould be constituted into a single ‘multi-role’Commission to carry out the specific functionsof the existing constitutional and statutoryCommissions of that State.

The existence of a large number ofCommissions’ should enable each one of themto look into specific categories of complaintsthereby ensuring speedy action on the complaint.However, this multiplicity of Commissions couldlead to problems of overlapping jurisdictions andeven duplication of efforts in dealing withcomplaints. Some of the laws had envisagedthese problems and made legal provisions for thesame.

For example, in order to prevent duplicationof efforts among the National and State HumanRights Commissions’, Section 36 of TheProtection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (PHRA)mandates that the NHRC shall not inquire intoany matter which is pending before a StateCommission or any other Commission dulyconstituted under any law for the time beingin force. Furthermore, Section 3(3) of thePHRA provides that the Chairpersons ofthe National Commission for Minorities, theNational Commission for Scheduled Castes, theNational Commission for Scheduled Tribes andthe National Commission for Women shall bedeemed Members of the NHRC for the dischargeof various functions assigned to it. However, thisdoes not cover functions prescribed underSection 12(a) of the PHRA, which deals withinquiry, suo motu or otherwise, into a complaintof violation or abetment of violation of humanrights or negligence by a public servant in theprevention of such violation.

Moreover, it is evident that there existsnational as well as state level Commissions toredress similar grievances. The Central law itselfprovides for the constitution of National andState level Commissions for safeguarding human

rights and child rights. Further, different Stategovernments have constituted statutoryCommissions for safeguarding the interests ofSCs, STs, Women and Minorities. Among allthese Commissions, the Human RightsCommissions have the widest mandate due tothe broad definition of the term ‘human rights’provided in the PHRA, 1993. Similarly, whereverthe States have established statutory State levelCommissions’ (such as those for Women, SCsand STs, Minorities, Children, etc.) whosejurisdictions may overlap with the National levelCommissions, it is necessary to evolve amechanism to prevent duplication of efforts.

Thus there is need to provide a moremeaningful and continuous mode of interactionbetween the National and State HRCs. At thebasic level, in case of complaints, coordinationbetween different Commissions at the nationaland state levels could easily be facilitatedthrough creation of electronic data bases andnetworking. For having a seamless exchange ofdata, a common complaint format needs to bedevised for all such Commissions constituted tomonitor and investigate the constitutional andlegal safeguards. This common format wouldhave specifically designed data fields to capturethe details of the victim(s) and complainants. Incase of complaints filed without utilizing thespecifically designed format, the necessary detailscould be ascertained at the time of registrationof the case itself.

The creation of a database and networkingwould assist these Commissions in not onlystreamlining their workload but also in decidingwhich body would be the best agency to carryout investigations. Further, it would also help inidentifying those areas and groups where therights of such groups of citizens are more proneto abuse. This would assist the respectivegovernments in devising specific measures toaddress the situation.

Further a large number of complaints arereceived by these Commissions which areregularly disposed by them by providing somerelief to the victims. Efforts have to be made bythe Union and State Governments to ensure thatthe cases of violation of the rights of citizensespecially the vulnerable sections are significantlyreduced if not eliminated altogether. Preventive


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measures would also have to be taken toeliminate cases of serious human rights violationssuch as custodial deaths, torture, etc.

In addition to the criminal justice system, theNational and State Human Rights Commissionsas well as the other Commissions could play animportant role in preventing such violations ofcitizens’ right and also in mitigating thehardships of the victims. An analysis of the casesdisposed of by NHRC over the last three yearsreveals that a wide variety of complaints ofhuman rights violations are received andprocessed. But despite the efforts of the NHRC/

SHRCs, the number of such cases has not beensignificantly reduced. Therefore, the Union andthe State Governments should take proactivesteps to eliminate causes of such occurrences. Thiscould be achieved by prioritizing the moreserious offences like custodial deaths/rapes, etc.Guidance of the NHRC and SHRCs may be takento prepare and implement an action plan for thispurpose.

Lastly a separate Standing Committee ofParliament may be constituted to look intoAnnual Reports submitted by these StatutoryCommissions.

Documents

19. Dispute redressal mechanism and institutions in India · DISPUTE REDRESSAL MECHANISM AND INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA Chronicle IAS Academy [3] DISPUTE REDRESSAL MECHANISM AND INSTITUTIONS