The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has ruled that lok adalats and district legal services authorities lack the power to grant divorce decrees. The authority to dissolve marriages rests exclusively with family courts.
A division bench of justices Shekhar B Saraf and A.K. Chaudhary delivered the order on April 30. The ruling came in response to a petition filed by a woman who challenged a 2018 settlement recorded by the district legal services authority in Unnao.
The court stated that under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, and the National Legal Services Authority (Lok Adalat) Regulations, 2009, matrimonial disputes involving divorce cannot be referred to lok adalats for adjudication. Their role is limited to facilitating amicable settlements between parties.
The bench declared a clause in the Unnao settlement that allowed both parties to remarry as legally void. It clarified that no valid decree of divorce had been passed by a competent court and directed that copies of the judgment be circulated to all lok adalats and district legal services authorities in the state.
