Acid Victims, Transgenders, HIV-Affected Persons Among Bench Members of Lok Adalat Held in West Bengal

Kolkata, December 12: Acid victims, transgenders and HIV-affected persons sat on the benches of the fourth national Lok Adalat held in West Bengal which disposed of around 3.6 lakh cases in a day, West Bengal State Legal Services Authority member secretary Devkumar Sukul said on Tuesday. The benches constitute three members - one judicial, an advocate and a social worker, he said. The benches can also comprise two members, with a judicial officer being mandatory and one from the other two spheres.

"Acid victims, transgenders, HIV patients were part of the benches at some places as members from the social worker segment on Saturday," Sukul said. A total of 434 benches sat across the state in the Lok Adalat held on that day, he said. He said that around 3.6 lakh cases were disposed of on that day and it was the highest for a day in the Lok Adalat in West Bengal. Lok Adalat: More Than 40k Matters Involving Rs 199 Cr Settled in Thane.

The amount recovered as settlement was around Rs 272.65 crore from the 434 benches across the state, he said. Lok Adalat is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms. It is a forum where disputes/cases pending in the court of law or at the pre-litigation stage are settled/ compromised amicably. Lok Adalats have been given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.