By Sambasiva Rao M
In a historic feat for the Indian judiciary, the Guntur District Lok Adalat has set a national record by resolving 1,076 civil cases in a single day during the National Lok Adalat held across Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.
In addition to civil disputes, the Lok Adalat successfully disposed of 11,636 criminal cases, primarily involving compoundable offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including pending non-bailable warrant (NBW) cases dating back to 2015 and 2016.
B. Sai Kalyan Chakravarthi, Chairman of the District Legal Services Authority and Principal District and Sessions Judge, attributed the district’s exemplary performance to the robust mediation system adopted by the Lok Adalat. He noted that compensation totalling ₹51 crore was awarded to victims, largely from motor accident claims and civil settlements.
A high-profile case involved the family of Dr. K. Sridhar, who died in a 2024 road accident near Piduguralla. Their ₹5 crore claim against Tata General Insurance was amicably settled at ₹1.4 crore. Two other cases fetched compensation of ₹1.1 crore and ₹70 lakh, respectively. Guntur now stands as a national model in legal dispute resolution, he said.