Bar Council of India v Union of India
- Ananya Dhawan, SLS Noida
- December 13, 2020
Content :
In this case, the constitutional validity of sections 22-A, 22-B, 22-C, 22-D and 22-E of the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 as inserted by the Legal Services Authorities (Amendment) Act, 2002, under Chapter VI-A of the act providing for pre-litigation conciliation in settlement of matters concerning public utility service up to a particular pecuniary limit by a Permanent Lok Adalat, were challenged on the grounds of being violative of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution as well as of rule of law. The Supreme Court of India upheld the constitutional validity of these sections and the powers of the Permanent Lok Adalats to adjudicate disputes on the grounds that the Parliament can set up effective dispute settlement mechanisms pertaining to particular statutes for efficiency and effectiveness and that there is no constitutional right as such that states that a person can necessarily have a dispute adjudicated by means of court only (as per Articles 39-A, 323-A, 323-B of the Constitution).
