Cuttack, Dec. 7: The National Lok Adalat, organised across the state yesterday, successfully disposed of a record 4.34 lakh cases that were pending in various courts.

This was the second edition of the lok adalat being held across the country. It's purpose is to dispose of pending cases in a single day.

Around 2.16 lakh cases were settled in the first National Lok Adalat organised all over the state on November 24 last year.

State Legal Services Authority (SLSA), along with District Legal Services Authority, settled 71 per cent of the total 6,11,320 cases in all the 30 districts, in a single day.

According to the state legal services authority, the lok adalat benches, constituted in the high court with sitting judges, settled 187 more cases than last year, while other benches across the state set a record by amicably settling 2.18 lakh more cases than last year. 'Around 380 lok adalat benches, from the high court to the taluk courts, had successful day-long sittings yesterday. While 428 cases were settled by the 12 benches in the high court, reports said 4,34,563 cases were settled across the rest of the state,' the SLSA secretary Sashikanta Mishra said.

'The Lok Adalat aimed at reducing the number of pending cases in courts and providing fast and inexpensive justice to people. Yesterday's efforts have successfully cleared 4,27,159 pending cases and 7,404 pre-litigation cases,' Mishra said.

Official sources said around 15 lakh cases, including 3.5 lakh cases in the high court, are pending in different courts across the state.

'While a total compensation of Rs 77.10 crore was awarded, Rs 59.11 crore were given to motor accident claim cases,' deputy secretary of the SLSA Biswajit Mohanty said.

'Settling 428 cases, the 12 lok adalat benches in the high court awarded around Rs 6.72 crore to mutual settlements in insurance cases and bank cases,' Mohanty said.

An official of the SLSA said civil and criminal cases, cheque bounce and bank recovery cases, civil suits, family and matrimonial disputes, revenue matters, land acquisition matters, consumer grievance cases, labour matters, motor accident claim cases and petty crime issues pending in the high court and lowers courts that could be settled amicably, were referred to the lok adalat.

According to the reports, received at the SLSA control room, the lok adalat benches in Cuttack district disposed the highest number of cases -46,002. Khurda and Sundargarh followed with 29,000 and 25,144 cases respectively.