'Unproductive litigation must be discouraged'

Bangalore, Jun 27: Supreme Court Judge and Executive Chairman, National Legal Services Authority, Justice Ashok Bhan today called upon the judicial fraternity to discourage unproductive litigations.

Such litigtions did not yield any results to the contesting parties and was only burdening the justrice delivery system he said while speaking after inaugurating the 'Bruhat Lok Adalat' organised by the Bangalore Urban and Rural districts legal services authorities and Bangalore Advocates association here. Several cases were pending before various courts, which hardly benefit the contesting litigants if discharged.

He urged the legal fraternity to find ways to dispose of such cases after convincing the concerned parties.

Referring to lakhs of cases pending before various courts in the country Mr Justice Bhan opined that over 50 per cent of cases were pertaining to rent disputes and relating to section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments act which can be settled easily outside the court by convincing the litigants. "Both judges and lawyers should own responsibility in disposing off pending cases as early as possible", he said.

Karnataka High Court Judge and Executive Chairman, State Legal Service Authority Justice V Gopala Gowda, said since 1997 over 16,690 Lok Adalats have been conducted in the state and over 391,100 cases have been settled. Over Rs 360 crores of compensation were paid to the litigant public involving Insurance, Bank and Motor Vehicle cases.

In land acquisition cases over Rs 123 crores were paid as solatium by state and private authorities, he said.

Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph, various other judges and members of Advocates Association were also present on the occasion.

UNI