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IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA

CMPMO No.25 of 2017

Date of Decision : 23.12.2025

Gulab Singh

…… Petitioner

Versus

Tata Motors Finance Ltd. and others

……Respondents

Coram:

The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Bipin Chander Negi, Judge

Whether approved for reporting?1

For the Petitioner : oMr. Rupinder Singh Thakur, Advocate.

For the respondentsC : Mr. Sanjay Kumar Sharma, Advocate.

Bipin Chander Negi, Judge (oral )

The present petition has been preferred against impugned

order dated 13.08.2016, passed by the Lok Adalat.

i2. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, perused the

impugned order and the petition. The sole contention urged on behalf of

the counsel for the petitioner is that the petitioner has never authorized his

counsel to withdraw the objection, hence, the impugned order passed by

the Lok Adalat is contended to be non est in the eyes of law.

3. Since before the Lok Adalat, the petitioner was being

represented by a counsel, therefore, a specific query was put to the

counsel for the petitioner, as to whether after passing of the impugned

order by the Lok Adalat, any action had been initiated against the counsel

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Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment?

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who was representing the petitioner before the Lok Adalat. The answer

was an emphatic ‘No’.

4. In the aforesaid facts and attending circumstances, I am of

the considered view that the award passed by the Lok AdHalat cannot be

interfered with on the ground as is being urged by the petitioner. The

relevant provisions of the Legal Services Authority Act, the purpose for

which the Lok Adalats have been created and the grounds for challenging

the same, have been dealt with in detail by the Apex Court, in State of

Punjab and Another vs. Jalour Singh and Others, reported in 2008(2)

SCC 660. Relevant portion whereof reads as under:-

“7. … … ...Section 19 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987

("the LCSA Act", for short) provides for organization of

the Lok Adalats. Section 19(5)(i) of the LSA Act provides that a Lok

Adalat shall have jurisdiction to determine and to arrive at a

hcompromise or settlement between the parties to a dispute in

respect of any case pending before any court for which the Lok

g Adalat is organised. Section 20 relates to e cognizance of cases by

the Lok Adalats. Sub-section (1) refers to the Lok Adalats taking

i cognizance of cases referred to by courts and sub-section (2)

refers to the Lok Adalats taking cognizance of matters at pre-

litigation stage. The relevant portions of other sub-sections of

Section 20, relating to cases referred by courts, are extracted

below:

"20. (3) Where any case is referred to a Lok Adalat under t sub-

section (1) ... the Lok Adalat shall proceed to dispose of the case...

and arrive at a compromise or settlement between the parties.

(4) Every Lok Adalat shall, while determining any reference 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, record of the case shall be returned by it to the court, from

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which the reference has been received under sub-section (1) for

disposal in accordance with law. .

(7) Where the record of the case is returned under sub-section (5) P

to the court, such court shall proceed to deal with such case from

the stage which was reached before such reference unde.r sub-

section (1).”

(emphasis supplied)

8. It is evident from the said provisions that the Lok Adalats have

no adjudicatory or judicial functions. Their funfctions relate purely to

conciliation. A Lok Adalat determines a reoference on the basis of a

compromise or settlement between the parties at its instance, and

puts its seal of confirmation by making an award i