Inaugurating the `Bruhat Lok Adalat' at City Civil Court Complex here, Justice Anand appealed to the senior advocates and retired judges in the state to work out a plan to set up such centres in the State. He also urged them to volunteer help to dispose off cases referred to Lok Adalats. ``It is time that sitting judges should come out of their chambers and reach out to the people by offering them to sort out their grievances,'' he appealed.

Justice Anand said following the 1995 amendments there were significant changes in the status of Lok Adalats. Considered as the Magna Carta of Indian legal system the Lok Adalat institution has received statutory backing and any award given by it hasa force of a decree.

No appeal will be entertained against its decree and court fee is refundable and process simplified. In this context Lok Adalats had received greater importance by the litigant public. It serves as an additional forum to the existing law courts, he added.

However, he warned that the credibility of the institution should be maintained by instilling confidence among the litigants approaching it. `The concept of Lok Adalat needs to be encouraged with impetus to conciliation and mediation rather than ongoing disputes which may overburden the judiciary. In cases relating to matrimonial disputes and money recovery suits it requires a continuous counselling with patience. This is were we need a permanent set up,'' he reiterated.

He further added that not only the motor vehicle accidents but also criminal cases which can be compounded by the law courts later, cases under Rent Control Act and land acquisition can also be brought under the purview of Lok Adalats.

Highlighting the presentstatus of Karnataka judiciary, Chief Justice of Karnataka R P Sethi claimed that the High Court of Karnataka had taken effective steps in disposing large number of cases and hoped to achieve completing the process of all cases before the turn of the century. ``By the time we step into the next millennium, Karnataka HC will top in clearing arrears in its roll,'' he hoped.

Justice Sethi added ``There were 1.63 lakh cases pending before the Karnataka HC of which 1.53 lakh cases were added in the last two years.`'This year 2,996 cases have been cleared uptil now even though the Court is facing a shortage of 10 judges. And as on date, there are 96,759 cases pending.