'Show concern for poor and needy'

Mon, Jun 23 01:55 AM

TAKING STRONG exception to the Uttarakhand Bar Association "not extending" cooperation to the bench in holding Lok Adalats, High Court Chief Justice V. K. Gupta urged the lawyers to help facilitate the process in the interest of the poor and needy. "Members of the Bar have shown no willingness to help the bench in settlement of cases involving the poor by way of reconciliation through Lok Adalats," regretted the Chief Justice.

He was speaking at a function organised to mark the beginning of a two-day Lok Adalat that began its proceedings here in the High Court premises on Saturday. The Lok Adalat is being organised under the aegis of the High Court Legal Aid Committee (HCLAC).

Taking a serious note of the Bar members' sheer indifference to the pro-poor system of Lok Adalats, the Chief Justice observed that the indifference "is clearly evident from the public court (Lok Adalat) being held after a gap of more than four years." The first Lok Adalat organised under the Uttarakhand High Court was held in 2004, he noted.

"Let me tell you it was a great disappointment," said the Chief Justice while referring to the Lok Adalat held four years ago. He also said that lawyers listed very small number of cases that had then come up for hearing and been disposed of in the public court.

Attributing that to the lukewarm response of the members of the Bar, the Chief Justice clarified that he was not against the lawyers filing cases. ``But they should refer at least some of these (cases) to the Lok Adalats as well so that the poor litigants get speedy justice that hardly involves any cost," he opined.

The Chief Justice observed that, if frequently held, the Lok Adalats would also divert much of the burden from the courts including the High Court thus helping the latter tackle the problem of case pendency. "I see no other way whereby the problem of pendency facing the courts in India can be resolved," observed the legal expert.

Those who spoke on the occasion were Justice P. C. Verma and Justice Rajesh Tandon of the High Court besides its Registrar General V. K. Maheshwari. A large number of High Court lawyers also attended the function.

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