Unproductive litigation should be discouraged: SC Judge

Bangalore, June 27 (UNI) Supreme Court Judge and National Legal Services Authority Executive Chairman Ashok Bhan today called upon the judicial fraternity to discourage unproductive litigation.

Such litigtion did not yield any results to the contesting parties and only burdened the justrice delivery system, he said in his address 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.

Justice Bhan urged the legal fraternity to find ways to dispose such cases after convincing the concerned parties.

Referring to lakhs of cases pending before various courts in the country, he opined over 50 per cent of cases pertained to rent disputes and 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 of pending cases as early as possible,'' he said.

Karnataka High Court Judge and State Legal Service Authority Executive Chairman V Gopala Gowda said since 1997 over 16,690 Lok Adalats had been conducted in the state and over 3.91 lakh cases settled.

Over Rs 360 crore of compensation were paid to the litigant public involving Insurance, Bank and Motor Vehicle cases, Mr Justice Gowda said.

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

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

UNI