Call to amicably settle disputes through National Lok Adalat on July 5
Addressing media persons at the APSLSA office near the Secretariat in Amaravati on Thursday, Ms. Himabindu said the NLA would be conducted as per the directions of the National Legal Services Authority once in every three/four months for amicably resolving pending cases.
She noted that both the disputing parties would win the cases in the event of their resolution through the NLA or mediation by court-appointed and trained third parties, and asserted that settling cases through the Lok Adalat would help litigants in saving time and money and improving human relationships. 'People should prefer to sort out issues through the Lok Adalat instead of engaging in protracted legal battles,' she exhorted.
Further, Ms. Himabindu said the Benches constituted for the NLA would deal with cases related to matrimonial and property disputes, civil cases, money suits, motor vehicle accident insurance claims, cheque bounce cases, and compoundable criminal cases that could be resolved through compromise.
She also informed that the High Court Legal Services Committee, 13 DLSAs (District Legal Services Authorities) and 147 MLSAs (Mandal Legal Services Authorities) have in the recent times identified 1,15,071 compoundable cases and conducted 1,841 pre-Lok Adalat sittings and awareness programmes.
As far as the Mediation Campaign was concerned, the APSLSA Member-Secretary said cases would be handled by 893 mediators, including retired judges, social workers, and lawyers, and settlements arrived therein would be recorded as compromise decrees in courts.
APSLSA Deputy Secretary H. Amara Rangeswara Rao and Assistant Secretary N.J. Rao were present.
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Indian Express
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What R N Ravi's criticism of linguistic states misses
Amid a recent resurgence of language politics in the country, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on Tuesday stirred up a fresh row by criticising the linguistic division of states which, he said, had turned a large section of the populace into 'second-class citizens'. 'Within a decade of our Independence, there had to be a linguistic reorganisation of Bharat… When we created linguistic states, a large population became second-class citizens…,' Ravi said at an event in Gandhinagar. Scholars have long argued, however, that the linguistic organisation of states has been critical in ensuring India's continued unity and integrity. Here's a brief history. Before first reorganisation The British had administered India with two systems running in parallel — a system of direct control in its provinces, and a system of indirect control across 565 princely states. The provincial boundaries India inherited in 1947, were thus products of colonial administrative exigencies and the historical process of integration of erstwhile principalities and kingdoms into the Empire. The Constitution, which came into force on January 26, 1950, declared India to be a 'Union of States'. The country, at the time, was divided into 28 states, falling under four categories. * There were nine Part A states (governors' provinces in British India), which were ruled by elected legislatures. These were: Assam, Bihar, Bombay, East Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. * There were eight Part B states (former princely states or group of princely states), which were ruled by elected legislatures and a rajpramukh. 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The so-called JVP committee set up in 1949, comprising Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, head of the States Ministry Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Congress president Pattabhi Sittaramaya, cautioned against the 'disintegrative effects of reorganisation'. But by the early 1950s, there was momentum in many regions for the creation of linguistic states. On October 19, 1952, Potti Sriramulu, a 51-year-old railway engineer, went on a hunger strike demanding the creation of a Telugu-speaking Andhra state. His death, after a 58-day-long fast, triggered widespread public outcry and protests. Two days later, on December 17, Nehru announced the creation of Andhra, which would officially become a state on October 1, 1953. The creation of Andhra opened a floodgate of demands for linguistic statehood. Less than three months after the state officially came into being, the Centre set up the States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) under Justice Fazl Ali. 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