In an important judgment, the Apex Court has ruled that Lok Adalats are not courts as they do not resort to judicial adjudication in resolving disputes & said that their settlement decrees cannot be cited as a precedent before a court of law to claim similar relief by others who were not party to the compromise before the Lok Adalat.
Noida authority had issued a notification in March 1983 for acquisition of land in villages situated in Tehsil Dadri for planned industrial development. Land owners were given compensation at the rate of Rs 20 per square yard in Nov 1984. None of the land owners questioned the rate of compensation & all accepted the amount due to them.
One Fateh Mohammed filed an application seeking reference against the Award of Nov 28, 1984, & it was made over to a Lok Adalat, where Noida authority settled with him in 2016 & agreed to pay Rs 297 per square yard, almost 15 times more than the original compensation more than 30 years later.
The other landowners saw the opportunity & successfully pleaded before the Allahabad High Court for a grant of compensation at the rate of Rs 297 per square yard on the ground that Lok Adalat awarded decrees had precedential value. NOIDA challenged the High Court order in Supreme Court.
Writing the judgment, Justice Joseph disagreed with the High Court view & said Lok Adalats do not employ any judicial scrutiny & under the legal services act only encourage the parties to settle amicably. It said even though the award by Lok Adalat could be enforceable like a decree, it cannot in the judicial arena have a precedential value.
The bench stated, “It is clear beyond the shadow of any doubt that the jurisdiction of the Lok Adalat under Section 20 is to facilitate a settlement of disputes between the parties in a case. It has no adjudicatory role".
“The award that is passed by the Lok Adalat cannot be said to be an award passed under the Land Acquisition Act. It is the compromise arrived at between the parties before the Lok Adalat which culminates in the award by the Lok Adalat... The enhancement of the compensation is determined purely on the basis of compromise which is arrived at & not as a result of any decision of a ‘court’ as defined in the Act," the Supreme Court said.
Allowing the appeal of Noida authority & setting aside the High Court order, Justices Joseph & Narasimha said, “We declare that an application under Section 28A of the Land Acquisition Act cannot be maintained on the basis of an award passed by the Lok Adalat under Section 20 of Legal Services Authorities Act.”
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