Lok Adalat award challenge by a third party can proceed in writ jurisdiction on prima facie fraud and exclusion.

A third party excluded from litigation may challenge a Lok Adalat award in writ jurisdiction where the award is alleged to have been procured by fraud, misrepresentation, or collusion and a prima facie case is shown. Although an aggrieved non-party would ordinarily pursue declaratory relief in a separate civil proceeding, writ jurisdiction is not barred in such circumstances. On the stated facts, the earlier family partition dispute, the rapid institution and compromise of the later suit, and the exclusion of persons with an apparent interest supported a prima facie inference of fraud affecting their rights, so the writ petition was maintainable.

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Issues: Whether a third party excluded from the litigation can challenge a Lok Adalat award in writ jurisdiction on the ground of fraud, misrepresentation, or collusion.

Analysis: A Lok Adalat award founded on compromise or settlement can be challenged by an aggrieved person. A third party ordinarily has to seek declaratory relief in a separate civil proceeding, but writ jurisdiction is not excluded where the award is alleged to have been procured by fraud, misrepresentation, or collusion and a prima facie case is made out. On the facts, the same ancestral property had been the subject of an earlier partition suit involving the family, the later suit was instituted and compromised within a short time, and the Petitioners were excluded despite their apparent interest. The circumstances indicated a prima facie fraud affecting the Petitioners' rights.

Conclusion: The third party was entitled to maintain the challenge to the Lok Adalat award, and the writ petition was maintainable on the prima facie showing of fraud and exclusion.

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