A whopping ₹144 crore was collected by settling 53.11 lakh challan cases by offering a 50% discount on the fine amount for traffic rule violations, as part of the national-level Lok Adalat organised by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) across the State last week.
These traffic challan cases were among the total 1.08 crore pre-litigation cases that were amicably settled during the Lok Adalat, which also reduced the pendency in courts by 2.42 lakh cases due to mutual settlement of cases among the litigants.
In Bengaluru city alone, ₹106. crore was collected by closing 37.86 lakh traffic challans followed by Mysuru city, where 26.14 crore was collected by closing 10.89 lakh cases.
Justice S.G. Pandit, a judge of the High Court and Chairman of the High Court Legal Services Authority, said the State government had accepted KSLSA’s proposal for offering a 50% discount on the fine amount, and the vehicle owners responded positively to the offer.
Justice Anu Sivaraman, a judge of the High Court of Karnataka and the Executive Chairperson of the KSLSA, said that response of litigants was overwhelming as the court staff had to work even on Sunday to had prepare the papers for settlement of cases during Lok Adalat.
Around 1,680 cases, which were pending from over 5 to 15 years, and 1,499 cases of senior citizens litigants were among the cases settled amicably, she said while pointing out 304 couples in conflict were reunited due conciliation in the Lok Adalat.
