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Allahabad High Court: a Lok Adalat has no power to grant a divorce

Allahabad High Court1 min readPublished
Illustration: Allahabad High Court

Ruling on a writ petition, a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court's Lucknow Bench (Justices Shekhar B. Saraf and Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary) held that Lok Adalats and District Legal Services Authorities have no power to grant a divorce, even in a pre-litigation settlement, since divorce matters cannot be referred to a Lok Adalat at all. The case arose after a 2018 settlement before the Unnao District Legal Services Authority, which the husband later treated as a decree of divorce and relied on to remarry. The Court found that no divorce had, in fact, been granted: under the proviso to Regulation 10(2) of the National Legal Services Authority (Lok Adalats) Regulations, 2009, a divorce dispute cannot be referred to a Lok Adalat in the first place, and a decree of mutual-consent divorce can be granted only by a Family Court under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

The Court observed that it could not comprehend how a divorce could have been expected from a Lok Adalat in a pre-litigation matter when a divorce case itself cannot be referred to one. It directed Lok Adalats and District Legal Services Authorities across the State to act strictly within the powers conferred by the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 and its regulations, without encroaching on functions reserved for courts, and ordered the ruling circulated to all District Legal Services Authorities in Uttar Pradesh.

Quick check
Under the National Legal Services Authority (Lok Adalats) Regulations, 2009, can a Lok Adalat grant a decree of divorce?
  1. Yes, in any matrimonial dispute referred to it by the parties
  2. No, unless both parties are government employees
  3. Yes, but only with the District Magistrate's prior approval
  4. No — divorce matters cannot be referred to a Lok Adalat at all; only a Family Court can grant a divorce decree, including by mutual consent under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act
Show the answer ↓

Answer: D. The Court held the proviso to Regulation 10(2) excludes divorce matters from reference to a Lok Adalat altogether, leaving the power to grant divorce, even by consent, with the Family Court alone.

Source document

Issued by Allahabad High Court. If this summary and the source differ, the source is right — tell us and we will correct it.