Justice on wheels: Mobile Lok Adalat brings courtroom to villagers’ doorstep

Justice on wheels: The month-long Mobile Lok Adalat has been touring remote villages of Maharashtra’s Raigad district since March 6.

Braving the harsh sun, a group of lawyers waited with eager anticipation outside the new civil court in Panvel last week for the month-long Mobile Lok Adalat, which has been touring remote villages of Maharashtra’s Raigad district since March 6.

When the 10-year-old van, sanctioned by the Bombay High Court to make justice more accessible, arrived an hour late, it was welcomed with a garland. A senior judge even broke a coconut to mark the auspicious moment. Then a retired judge, a lawyer, three judicial clerks and a peon hopped on to the “justice on wheels” with two bags of case files to head to its next stop: Navade, 40 km from Mumbai.

On reaching the town, the van stopped outside a local gram panchayat office, which doubled up as the courtroom for the day-long hearing. As per the schedule, 18 cases ranging from land rows to financial issues were listed for the day. S.L. Badekar, a clerk, then set out on foot to remind the litigants to turn up for the hearing. “I sent notices to everyone whose matters are listed today. I had also sent reminders.”

The Mobile Lok Adalat is the fastest and most effective way of dispensing justice, said Swati Sonawane, an advocate on the Panvel court’s legal aid panel for the past seven years. “The villagers have to come to us. We are literally at their doorstep,” she said, adding that the van’s schedule is announced by the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority a month in advance through awareness drives and word of mouth.

First up, a traffic police constable approached the court with three men accused of drunken driving. Retired Judge S.A. Upadhye, who presided over the hearing, went through the case records and asked the young men to be seated. He then asked them in Marathi to state their name, age and offence. With folded hands, they admitted to drunken driving and said this was their first run-in with the law. Seated beside the judge, Ms. Sonawane asked the accused to plead guilty and seek a reasonable penalty from the court.

They accepted a penalty of ₹1,000 each and the matter was disposed of in 10 minutes. The court adjudicated one more case before heading for lunch to the house of Shashikant Mhatre, a lawyer at the Panvel court. “ Whenever we travel, the sarpanch or an advocate in the area hosts us for lunch. It is their way of respecting the court, which is considered nyay ka mandir (temple of justice),” said senior clerk Sujata Mahadik.

After lunch, they returned to the court, but no other litigant turned up. Mr. Upadhye was not disappointed: “I will adjudicate even if only one case comes up for hearing.”