The Supreme Court of India has embarked on a groundbreaking initiative to address its mounting case backlog by launching a five-day Special Lok Adalat. The event, which began on Monday, coincides with the 75th anniversary of the apex court’s establishment and will run until August 3.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud expressed enthusiasm about the initiative, said, “The idea is to settle small cases. People do not realize how small cases come before the Supreme Court.” He cited examples of service disputes, labour disputes, land acquisition cases, motor accident claims, and cheque dishonour cases as targets for resolution.

The Special Lok Adalat involves seven benches of the Supreme Court, each comprising two Supreme Court judges, a senior advocate, and an Advocate-on-Record. To facilitate participation, the Registry has created dedicated video conference links for each court.

Out of over 2,200 cases scheduled for the Lok Adalat, 911 are related to motor accident claims. The initiative aims to address a variety of disputes with potential for amicable settlement, including matrimonial and property disagreements.

CJI Chandrachud highlighted the collaborative nature of the effort, saying, “The presence of the members of the Bar as part of the Lok Adalat panel along with the judges has sent the right message across society that though the Bar and the Judges are on two different sides normally in Court proceedings, we are united in our efforts to do justice.”

Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal lauded the initiative, calling it “a historic day” and praising the Court for reaching out to people with small matters that often linger for years.

The Special Lok Adalat comes at a crucial time, as Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal recently informed Parliament that pending cases in the Supreme Court have increased by 35% over the past five years, from 59,859 in 2019 to 80,765 by the end of 2023.

(Inputs from ANI)