Lok Adalat Cannot Deny Opportunity Of Cross Examination To Party Without Reasons, Even Though Summary Procedures Are Followed: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court has held that the Permanent Lok Adalat (PLA) must adhere to the principles of natural justice as enshrined in Section 22-D of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, even though summary procedure is followed. The Court quashed the PLA's order in a dispute involving a telecom bill, on the ground that the petitioner was denied the right to cross-examine the respondent's witness without any reasoning.The Division Bench of Justices M.S. Sonak and Jitendra Jain was hearing a writ petition filed by Bindu Narang challenging an order dated 27 December 2017 passed by the PLA in favour of Matrix Cellular Services Pvt. Ltd., directing her to pay Rs. 23,981 with interest.In an application filed by the respondent for recovering the bill amount of SIM card, the petitioner sought to cross-examine the witness who had filed the affidavit and documents on behalf of the respondent. However, the application for cross-examination was rejected without assigning any reasons.Allowing the petition, the Court observed:“… denial of cross-examination by the PLA on an application made by the petitioner without giving any reasons would be contrary to the principles of natural justice and fair play which, as per Section 22-D, the PLA is obliged to follow.”The Court noted that since there was a dispute regarding facts between the parties, it was incumbent on the PLA to have granted the opportunity to cross-examine the deponent of the affidavit filed on behalf of the respondent. Summary Nature No ExcuseOn the ground of the proceedings being summary in nature as a reason to deny cross-examination, the Court observed that denial of cross-examination merely because the proceedings are summary is unjustified.“… even if the proceedings are summary, the PLA ought to have been guided by the provisions of Section 22-D, which provides for following the principles of natural justice and fair play, more so in the present facts… where there were discrepancies in the documents filed by both the parties.” The Court further remarked that if the PLA felt that the matter involved disputed facts unsuited to summary disposal, it could have relegated the parties to regular remedies.Consequently, the impugned order dated 27 December 2017 passed by the Permanent Lok Adalat was quashed and the petition was allowed.Case Title: Bindu Narang v. Matrix Cellular (International) Services Pvt. Ltd. & Anr. [Writ Petition No. 2977 of 2018]Click Here To Read/Download Order

Lok Adalat Cannot Deny Opportunity Of Cross Examination To Party Without Reasons, Even Though Summary Procedures Are Followed: Bombay HC

Saksham Vaishya

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