by Police - Bureau of Police Research and Development

The Indian Police Journalafter hearing the facts and claims involved in a dispute. Limitednegotiations may take place during Lok Adalat. There is rarely anydirect communication between the parties or any extensive give andtake regarding their settlement offers.If a system is to be evolved where the police act as the facilitator toresolve these minor disputes in the community, then such a systemwould need to necessarily satisfy these conditions:••• • It should not attract adverse attention of the courts and should bewithin the perceived boundaries as proscribed by law.“Pre-Litigation Counselling Forum”A system-oriented effort to marry Mediation with Lok Adalat was madeby the author as Commissioner of Police in Vijayawada to provide This mechanism was called “Pre-Litigation Counselling Forum”. Theimportant thing to note is that more than 5 years after the transfer of thewith wide acceptance from public. Sub-Collector, under the orders of the Collector of Krishna District,as the headquarters of the Collector was not in Vijayawada, but inMachilipatnam), Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (through theMunicipal Commissioner) and the Police (through the Commissionerof Police) 2 days aweek. Petitions seeking redressal of civil disputes are received on theother 3 days. Parties to the disputes are summoned and counselled onthe days of sitting and the resultant compromise, if any, is producedbefore the Lok Adalat, sitting in the MSJ court premises, on the sameAct, 1987. This implies that the moral force of the three most importantJanuary - March, 201385