India, March 15 -- The National Lok Adalat was held on Saturday at the New District Courts Complex, Sector-43, Chandigarh. Over 45,946 cases were settled including pending matters, pre-litigative cases and traffic challans, with settlements amounting to Rs.27.22 crore. The Lok Adalat was organised by the UT State Legal Services Authority and the UT District Legal Services Authority under the aegis of the National Legal Services Authority. A total of 13 benches headed by serving judicial officers were constituted to take up criminal compoundable cases, matters under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, bank recovery cases, motor accident claims tribunal claims, matrimonial and labour disputes, arbitration matters, civil cases, municipal issues and traffic challans, which were disposed of with the consent of all the parties. 89 pre-litigative cases involving Rs.1.90 lakh were settled by the Permanent Lok Adalat (PUS), while 7 labour dispute cases involving Rs.1 lakh were disposed of by the Labour Court. The state and district consumer commissions, disposed of 53 cases involving Rs.1.44 crore. Further, 192 cases involving Rs.57.83 crore were disposed of by Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRT-II), Chandigarh, and 183 mutations were settled by the UT Tehsildar (revenue). Over 23 cases pending for over five years were also disposed of during the Lok Adalat. Arun Kumar Aggarwal, member secretary, UT State Legal Services Authority and Sunil Kumar, secretary, UT District Legal Services Authority were also present. courts disposed of 23,412 cases during the National Lok Adalat held on Saturday, with settlements reached through mutual compromise in a large number of disputes. According to officials, a total of 24,992 cases were taken up during the Lok Adalat, including pre-litigation and pending matters. The benches passed awards amounting to Rs.167.75 crore in different cases. The Lok Adalat was organised under the guidance of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra, executive chairman, Punjab State Legal Services Authority, and Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu, administrative judge, SAS Nagar sessions division. A total of 27 benches were set up across the district, including Mohali, Kharar and Dera Bassi. Of these, 16 benches functioned at the district headquarters, five at Kharar and six at Dera Bassi. The benches heard cases related to compoundable criminal offences, cheque bounce cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, bank recovery matters, motor accident claims, matrimonial disputes, labour disputes, land acquisition matters, electricity and water bill disputes and other civil cases. The District Legal Services Authority secretary Surabhi Prashar said "the district judiciary held meetings with officials from banks, insurance companies and other departments to identify cases that could be settled during the Lok Adalat and encourage parties to resolve disputes through compromise." During the National Lok Adalat organised at the District Courts Complex in Panchkula and Kalka, a total of 19,929 cases were decided and settlements amounting to Rs. 25.84 crore were reached. Ajay Kumar Ghanghas, chief judicial magistrate-cum-secretary, District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Panchkula, informed that eight benches were constituted and cases of various categories were settled. These included revenue matters, bank loan recovery cases at the pre-litigation stage, criminal compoundable cases, civil disputes, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) cases, matrimonial disputes under the Hindu Marriage Act, traffic challan, land acquisition cases, cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, service matters, and other miscellaneous cases....