TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2021 (10) TMI 377
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....ppellant herein filed a writ petition before the High Court being Writ Petition No.8074 of 2011. The matter was listed on 30.11.2013 before the Lok Adalat. By the impugned order, the members of the Lok Adalat held by the High Court entered into the merits of the writ petition and dismissed the same on merits, which is the subject matter of the present appeal. 2.1 That thereafter the appellant filed the restoration application before the High Court to restore the main writ petition submitting that the order passed in the Lok Adalat is beyond the jurisdiction of the Lok Adalat and, therefore, the same is not legal in the eyes of law. However, the said application came to be dismissed by the High Court and hence the present appeal. 3. Sh....
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.... substance in the petition, the members of the Lok Adalat have rightly dismissed the writ petition, which in the facts and circumstances of the case is not required to be interfered with by this Court in exercise of power under Article 136 of the Constitution. 4. Heard the learned counsel for the respective parties at length. 5. The short question which is posed for consideration of this Court is whether in the Lok Adalat held by the High Court, was it open for the members of the Lok Adalat to enter into the merits of the writ petition and to dismiss the same on merits, in absence of any settlement arrived at between the parties? 6. While answering the aforesaid question, the relevant provisions of the Legal Services Authorities Ac....
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....igh Court. (5) A Lok Adalat shall have jurisdiction to determine and to arrive at a compromise or settlement between the parties to a dispute in respect of :- (i) any case pending before; or (ii) any matter which is falling within the jurisdiction of, and is not brought before, any court for which the Lok Adalat is organised. Provided that the Lok Adalat shall have no jurisdiction in respect of any case or matter relating to an offence not compoundable under any law. 20. Cognizance of Cases by Lok Adalats--(1) Where in any case referred to in clause (i) of sub-section (5) of Section 19-(i) (i) (a) the parties thereof agree; or (i) (b) one of the parties thereof ma....
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....e before it under this Act, act with utmost expedition to arrive at a compromise or settlement between the parties and shall be guided by the principles of justice equity, fair play and other legal principles. (5) Where no award is made by the Lok Adalat on the ground that no compromise or settlement could be arrived at between the parties, the record of the case shall be returned by it to the court, from which the reference has been received under sub-section (1) for disposal in accordance with law. (6) Where no award is made by the Lok Adalat on the ground that no compromise or settlement could be arrived at between the parties, in a matter referred to in subsection (2), that Lok Adalat shall advice the parties to seek r....
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....ok Adalat shall proceed to dispose of the case or matter and arrive at a compromise or settlement between the parties. Sub-section (5) of Section 20 further provides that where no award is made by the Lok Adalat on the ground that no compromise or settlement could be arrived at between the parties, the record of the case shall be returned by it to the court, from which the reference has been received under sub-section (1) for disposal in accordance with law. 7. Thus, a fair reading of the aforesaid provisions of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 makes it clear that the jurisdiction of the Lok Adalat would be to determine and to arrive at a compromise or a settlement between the parties to a dispute and once the aforesaid settlemen....
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....U Development Trust Ltd., Re [(1973) 1 All ER 135 : (1972) 1 WLR 1548 (Ch D)] ). A compromise is always bilateral and means mutual adjustment. "Settlement" is termination of legal proceedings by mutual consent. The case at hand did not involve compromise or settlement and could not have been disposed of by the Lok Adalat. If no compromise or settlement is or could be arrived at, no order can be passed by the Lok Adalat. Therefore, the disposal of Civil Writ Petition No. 943 of 2000 filed by the respondent is clearly impermissible." 9. In view of the above, the impugned order passed by the Lok Adalat dismissing the writ petition on merits is unsustainable and deserves to be quashed and set aside. The submission made by the learned counsel....