He was speaking at a seminar titled ‘The Role of Lok Adalats: A Key Alternative In Dispute Resolution Mechanism’ in the city on Saturday. The judge made the comment in the presence of State Minister for Law and Judicial Affairs Rabilal Maitra.

The minister, however, evaded an answer saying that he was not sure where the permanent Lok Adalats in the state were located.

Bhan said the state authorities had informed him that there are only two Lok Adalats in the state. “But every district needs one,” he said.

As many as 15 states have permanent Lok Adalats to settle disputes in public utility services under the Legal Services Authority (Amendment) Act, 2002.

Bhan said dearth of judges at all levels was the basic cause behind the delay in delivering justice. He said the judiciary has been allocated only .0078 per cent of the GDP while there are more than 2.5 crore cases pending in the country’s courts. One-third of these cases are of a trivial nature and can be sorted out in Lok Adalats, he added. The judge also advocated legal literacy programmes across the country to make the people aware of their rights.

Justice Altmas Kabir, also an SC judge, said: “Lok Adalats and the Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanism are like the valves of a pressure cooker — relieving the pressure on the judiciary,” he said.