Srinagar : In a significant stride towards delivering timely and amicable justice, , District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) in collaboration with the District Judiciary Srinagar successfully organized the Ist National Lok Adalat of the year 2026 at the District Court Complex Mominabad, Srinagar, and at the Court of the Additional Special Mobile Magistrate/JMIC Panthachowk.
The Lok Adalat was held under the guidance of Justice Arun Palli, Chief Justice, High Court J&K and Ladakh (Patron-in-Chief, J&K Legal Services Authority), Justice Sanjeev Kumar, Judge, High Court of J&K and Ladakh /Executive Chairman, J&K Legal Services Authority and overall supervision of Haq Nawaz Zargar Principal District & Sessions Judge/ Chairman, DLSA Srinagar, and ShaziaTabasum, Member Secretary, J&K Legal Services Authority.
The Lok Adalat was inaugurated by Haq Nawaz Zargar, Principal District & Sessions Judge/ Chairman, DLSA Srinagar, in presence of judicial officers, members of the bar, court staff and DLSA Staff.
To facilitate the amicable settlement of cases, 12 benches were constituted, in which overall 49252 cases were taken up for settlement out of which 48342 cases were amicably settled and Rs. 56981763 was awarded as settlement amount.
Wherein the First Bench was presided over byKusoom Lata Pandita, Additional District Judge and by Anjum Ara, Ist Additional District & Sessions Judge Srinagar. The 2nd Bench was presided over by Naushad Ahmad Khan and Zirgham Hamid, Ist Add. Munsiff/JMIC Srinagar. the 3rd Bench was presided over by Farooq Ahmad Bhat, Additional District & Sessions Judge Srinagar and Tabasum, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar. The 4th Bench was presided over by Renu Dogra, Principal Judge Family Court Srinagar and Preet Simran Kour.
The 4th Bench was presided over by Addl. Distt. & Sessions Judge Srinagar. The 5th Bench was presided over by Mehreen Mushtaq, Addl. Spl Judge Anti Corruption Srnagar and Fayaz Ahmad Qureshi, Presiding Officer, MACT, Court Srinagar in which 70 cases were taken out of which 38 cases were amicably settled and Rs 28990000 was awarded as settlement amount. During the Lok Adalat proceedings, cheques amounting to Rs. 15082485 were distributed on the spot among the beneficiaries by the Principal District & Sessions Judge Srinagar along with the Learned Judicial Officers, thereby ensuring immediate relief to the litigants.
The 6th Bench was presided over by Fida Hussain Nayek, Municipal Magistrate, Srinagar and Junaid Imtiyaz Mir, Sub-Judge Srinagar. The 7th Bench was presided over by Mohammad IshtiyaqAlam Baba, Forest Magistrate Srinagar and MassaratJabeen, PT& E Magistrate. The 8th Bench was presided over by Shabir Ahmad Malik, Spl. Mobile Magistrate Traffic and Mufti Nahida, Addl. Special Mobile Magistrate Traffic Srinagar. The 9th Bench was presided over by Tarun Mahajan, City Judge Srinagar and Vikas Bhardwaj, 2nd Additional Munsiff, Srinagar.
The 10th Bench was presided over by Shayesta Nazir, City Munsiff Srinagar and Nazia Hassan, 4th Addl. Munsiff Srinagar. The 11th Bench was presided over by Mainaz Qadir, Additional Spl. Mobile Magistrate/JMIC Panthachowk Srinagar and Adv. Baba Sajad and 12th Bench was presided over by Dr. Farah Deeba, Officiating President District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Srinagar and Shabnum Munshi, Member District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Srinagar.
During the proceedings, the Principal District & Sessions Judge, Srinagar personally inspected all the Lok Adalat benches at the District Court Complex Srinagar as well as Court of the Additional Spl. Mobile Magistrate/JMIC Panthachowk to review the progress and ensure smooth functioning of the proceedings.
The Ist National Lok Adalat of 2026 witnessed huge participation from officers and officials of various departments, litigants, advocates, and other stakeholders. The success of the Lok Adalat reflects the judiciary’s commitment to resolving disputes through mutual understanding and compromise. Such initiatives not only help in reducing the backlog of cases in courts but also strengthen the public’s faith in the justice delivery system and promote access to justice for all.
