“Settle bank loan disputes through Lok Adalat”

Justice M. Yusuf Eqbal, Chief Justice, Madras High Court, inaugurated a Mega Lok Adalat exclusively for the cases of Deutsche Bank, organised jointly by the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services authority and the bank, here on Thursday.



Speaking after inaugurating the programme, Mr. Justice Eqbal said whenever cases relating to bank loans were referred to him, he would ask for ledgers from the bank as they were in the habit of adding hidden charges. The banks would levy compound interest for the loan once in three months. So it would be better for customers to settle loan disputes at the earliest through Lok Adalat.

Narrating an incident in which Lok Adalat was sought to be misused, Mr. Justice Eqbal said he was invited to participate in such a programme in the Bihar High Court, to recover loans from farmers.

When he interacted with one of the farmers, the latter said he had sought a loan of Rs.5,000 but was given Rs.3,000 15 years ago. Now the State wanted to recover the entire amount. Rejecting the plea from the State, Mr. Justice Eqbal said such cases could not be entertained at Lok Adalat. The Legal Services Authority should be very careful.

Justice Elipe Dharma Rao, Judge Madras High Court and Executive Chairman, Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority, Chennai, said the Authority conducted an exclusive mega lok adalat for cases of Central Bank of India in January this year in which 1,430 cases were referred to Lok Adalat Benches. On that day a total of 266 cases were settled, including 160 pre-litigation matters and a total of Rs.11.20 crore was awarded.

In the Deutsche Bank Adalat a total of 2,671 cases, consisting of 2,043 credit card cases and 628 personal loan cases had been referred, which involved Rs.42.83 crore, he said.

Justice M. Chockalingam Judge, Madras High Court and Chairman, High Court Legal Services Committee, Chennai, said that the Lok Adalat was better among alternative dispute redressal mechanisms. He appealed to the organisers to settle at least 80 per cent of the cases relating to the bank.

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