The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) is set to organise the 4th National Lok Adalat of 2025 on December 13, marking another nationwide effort to strengthen consensual dispute resolution. Under the leadership of Justice Surya Kant, Chief Justice of India and Patron-in-Chief, NALSA, and Justice Vikram Nath, Judge, Supreme Court of India and Executive Chairman, NALSA, the initiative seeks to bring citizens, institutions, and the justice system onto a unified platform dedicated to timely and amicable settlement of disputes.
The National Lok Adalat will be conducted across across High Courts, District Courts, Tribunals, Consumer Forums, and Permanent Lok Adalats throughout the country.
State-specific schedules include:
· Rajasthan: December 19, 2025 (High Court) and December 21, 2025 (District Courts, Tribunals, Revenue Courts)
· Telangana: December 21, 2025
· Delhi: January 10, 2026
Over the past few years, Lok Adalats have evolved into one of India's most inclusive dispute-resolution platforms. Beyond disposal of cases, they now serve as a means for restoring relationships through conciliatory dialogue, reducing litigation and associated costs, encouraging participatory justice, where citizens actively engage in finding solutions, and strengthening trust in the justice delivery system.
The 4th National Lok Adalat will take up a wide spectrum of both pre-litigation and pending matters including criminal compoundable offences, plea bargaining cases, cheque dishonour cases, bank recovery cases, motor accident claim cases, compoundable traffic challans, labour dispute cases, public utility services disputes, matrimonial disputes (excluding divorce cases), land acquisition cases, service matters, revenue matters, intellectual property rights (IPR) matters, consumer cases, and other civil disputes.
The National Lok Adalat plays a pivotal role in reducing the burden on regular courts by offering litigants an accessible forum for resolving pre-litigation and pending cases. These include criminal compoundable offences, traffic challans, plea bargaining, revenue matters, bank recovery cases, motor accident claims, cheque dishonour cases, labour disputes, matrimonial disputes (excluding divorce cases), land acquisition cases, intellectual property rights (IPR) matters, consumer cases, and other civil disputes.
Lok Adalats continue to play a pivotal role in reducing the burden on regular courts by offering litigants an accessible and cost-effective forum for settlement. Their impact has been significant:
· In 2024, over 10.45 crore cases were settled through National Lok Adalats.
· In 2025, the first three National Lok Adalats have already disposed of more than 10.50 crore cases, reflecting both increasing public confidence and the sustained efforts of Legal Services Authorities nationwide.
This National Lok Adalat will place special emphasis on reducing the pendency of cases reflected on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), reinforcing NALSA's commitment to ensuring justice that is swift, accessible, affordable, and equitable. It reaffirms the vision of a justice system where no citizen is left behind, and where amicable settlement becomes a preferred and trusted path for resolving everyday disputes.