Lok Adalat to settle 35k cases on Sept 28

Pune: The Lok Adalat is slated to settle around 35,000 cases on Sept 28 in city at the district and sessions court and other courts in the district.The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), for the first time, will give a 10 to 15% discount to litigants when they settle cases relating to power thefts in the Lok Adalat.The Pune District Legal Services Authority (PDLSA) secretary Sonal Patil told TOI, "We have 120 cases, mostly filed by the industrial units in the district, related to power theft worth crores of rupees pending before various courts in the district. We have held a series of meetings with the MSEDCL officials and litigants and appealed to them to settle their disputes in the Lok Adalat after the power utility offered them a discount of 10 to 15%."Patil explained, "The PDLSA, in collaboration with the MSEDCL, has for the first time taken this initiative of giving a discount to the litigants in the district on a trial basis. A similar initiative would be taken to settle similar cases across the state in the days to come."The 35,000 cases include 11,000 traffic offences, civil cases, criminal cases, family disputes, labour and industrial disputes, motor accident claims and pre-litigation cases. These cases would be kept for settlement before 118 panel judges in the district, she said, appealing to the litigants to turn up in large numbers.