District Legal Service Authority conducts Lok Adalat in Rayagada

Rayagada, Dec 29: Lok Adalats or People’s Courts sans courts at the doorstep of people have brought sea changes in the lives of poor communities in the hinterland of Rayagada.

They are conducted at regular intervals by the District Legal Service Authority(DLSA) situated inside Rayagada District Judge Court and Taluka Level Legal Service Authorities under the jurisdiction of courts at Kashipur, Bissam Cuttack & Gunupur.

This saves valuable time & huge money which may otherwise be spent in the usual process. During the Lok Adalat sixteen very important cases were settled and fines collected.

Md. Janab Azmal, District Judge-cum-Chairman, DLSA, who was present in the Lok Adalat,  believes that the State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity and shall in particular provide free legal aid to ensure that opportunities of securing justice are not denied to any citizen by economic or other disabilities. He further stresses on the preservation of such constitutional provisions at all cost.

Amongst others Sri Asim Kumar Dalbehera, Additional District Judge, Sri Pravakar Ganthia, Senior Civil Judge, Smt Sabitri Nayak, SDJM, Smt Lopamudra Malla, Sri Kailash Sahu, Smt Arnapurna Sarangi, Smt Ipsita Mohanty Judicial Officers, Rayagada & Dr. Indu Sharma, Registrar, Civil Courts, Rayagada participated in the Lok Adalat.

Advocates namely Bibhudha Pradhan, Maheswar Mohapatra, Padnabha Das, Debaraj Nayak alongwith police personnel, employees of the court and the local villagers cooperated in the Lok Adalat. Dr. Md. Irshadun Nabi, Secretary, District Legal Services Authority co-ordinated the entire programme and thanked all on behalf of District Judge-cum-Chairman, DLSA..

While poverty is rampant in this part of tribal hinterland, poor people see a lot of hope during these kinds of pro-people events for speedy disposal of cases. Lok Adalats held simultaneously in the District and Session Court alongwith lower courts have served panacea to the poor engrossed with petty litigation.

DLSA Rayagada’s pioneer step in bringing justice in a sustainable basis at the door step of the poor is certainly a sign of judicial activism which has ensured the constitutional rights of the marginallised. Frequency of such adalats, if augmented in such areas, will certainly go a long way serving vulnerable, opined the denizens of Pitamahal.