PATNA, May 11 -- Traffic challan settlements accounted for nearly 60% of the 71,275 pre-litigation matters disposed of during the National Lok Adalat held across Bihar on Saturday, generating revenue of Rs 6.58 crore out of the total settlement of Rs 159.44 crore, according to data released by the Bihar State Legal Services Authority (BSLSA) on Sunday. The figures highlighted the overwhelming public response to the state government's "One-Time Traffic Challan Settlement Scheme-2026," which offered motorists up to 50% concessions on select offences for clearing pending e-challans. The surge in settlements was also driven by enforcement measures the government adopted. These measures included blocking services- such as the renewal of Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates, the issuance of fitness certificates, and the re-registration of vehicles older than 15 years - for vehicle owners with pending traffic challans under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Of the 42,535 pre-litigation traffic challans disposed of during the Lok Adalat, Patna and Banka districts accounted for around 10,000 cases each, while Muzaffarpur recorded the disposal of nearly 8,000 challans. Darbhanga, Gaya and West Champaran, however, emerged among the laggard districts in terms of traffic challan case settlements. Overall, 45,719 traffic challan matters - including both pre-litigation and post-litigation cases - were amicably resolved during the day, generating a total settlement of Rs 7.39 crore. This accounted for nearly 42% of the total 1,09,928 cases settled across Bihar, making it one of the highest single-day disposals in recent National Lok Adalats in the state. The Lok Adalat's working hours were extended from the scheduled 5pm till 9pm on the directions of senior judges of the Patna high court, including Chief Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo, patron-in-chief of the BSLSA, and Justice Sudhir Singh, executive chairman of the authority, who monitored the exercise until the wee hours of Sunday. Apart from traffic challans, the National Lok Adalat also addressed bank recovery disputes, cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act involving loan repayment defaults and cheque bounce matters, matrimonial disputes, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal cases, civil disputes, electricity-related matters including power theft penalties and compensation claims, labour disputes and other settlement cases. "The figures clearly demonstrate that while traffic challan matters formed an important component of this National Lok Adalat, a very large number of regular court cases and other pre-litigation disputes were also successfully settled and disposed of across the state," said Dharmendra Kumar Singh, member secretary of the BSLSA, while addressing a press conference at the authority's office on Sunday. "This National Lok Adalat was historic not only in terms of the sheer number of cases disposed of in a day, but also because this was the first time in Bihar that traffic challan matters were taken up on such a large scale under the Lok Adalat mechanism, following directions by a division bench of the Patna high court comprising Chief Justice Sahoo and Justice Harish Kumar in a civil writ petition," Singh added. BSLSA registrar Ashutosh Ravi said Justice Sudhir Singh had convened a virtual meeting on April 29 with principal district judges, district magistrates, superintendents of police, member secretaries of district legal services authorities and other officials from all 38 districts of Bihar to ensure the smooth conduct of the exercise. During the meeting, officials were directed to identify and segregate eligible cases for settlement through the National Lok Adalat, intensify public awareness campaigns and make adequate logistical arrangements for the camps, added Ravi....