The National Lok Adalat was held on September 12, 2026, with courtrooms and tribunals across the country functioning as forums for dialogue, conciliation and amicable settlement. NALSA stated that the initiative offered litigants, many of whom had been awaiting resolution for years, an opportunity to conclude disputes through mutually agreed settlements rather than adversarial adjudication.

Lok Adalat benches were constituted across 26 States and 7 Union Territories, bringing together judicial officers, advocates, para legal volunteers and litigants at every level of the justice delivery system, from High Courts to taluka courts. NALSA said the exercise reflected its commitment to ensuring that justice remains accessible to all sections of society.

Ahead of the National Lok Adalat, Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant, who is also the Patron-in-Chief of NALSA, emphasised that access to justice must become a lived reality reaching every doorstep. He urged citizens to make use of Lok Adalats as a faster and simpler means of resolving disputes and fostering harmony between parties.

Similarly, Justice Vikram Nath, Judge of the Supreme Court and Executive Chairman of NALSA, highlighted the role of Lok Adalats in addressing judicial pendency through consensual dispute resolution. He observed that the process helps reduce long-pending cases while enabling parties to arrive at mutually acceptable solutions without incurring prolonged litigation costs and delays.

As per the tentative data released by NALSA, the figures exclude Karnataka, Rajasthan and Delhi, where National Lok Adalats are scheduled to be held on September 19, October 10 and October 25, 2026, respectively, as well as jurisdictions from which data was still being compiled. Of the total cases settled, 1,90,75,743 were pre-litigation matters, while 19,63,369 were pending court cases.

The matters taken up during the Lok Adalat covered a wide spectrum of disputes, including cheque bounce cases, motor accident claims, matrimonial disputes, labour matters, consumer complaints, land acquisition cases, succession disputes, arbitration claims of small businesses, compoundable criminal cases and traffic challans. Bank recovery matters, service disputes, revenue cases and public utility grievances were also considered. NALSA further stated that long-pending matters identified through the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) were specifically prioritised for resolution.

According to NALSA, every award passed by a Lok Adalat carries the status and finality of a civil court decree and is binding on the parties. Such awards are not appealable, and litigants are also entitled to a refund of the court fee paid.

The authority noted that the National Lok Adalat forms part of its broader legal services framework, which includes free legal aid, legal awareness programmes, mediation and conciliation initiatives, victim compensation schemes, legal services clinics, and the work of panel lawyers and para legal volunteers. NALSA stated that these efforts are aimed at ensuring that no individual is denied justice because of economic or other disabilities.