The Supreme Court’s three-day Samadhan Samaroh 2026, a Special Lok Adalat aimed at facilitating consensual and amicable resolution of disputes, concluded on August 23 with 1,712 matters settled or disposed of, including 48 cases resolved through mediation.
The initiative, undertaken under the guidance of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, sought to strengthen alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, provide litigants with mutually acceptable outcomes and reduce the burden of prolonged litigation. The Special Lok Adalat was the culmination of a broader pre-settlement exercise that began on April 21, 2026.
According to the Supreme Court, 3,285 cases were listed during the three-day Special Lok Adalat, of which 1,664 were settled or disposed of during the sittings. A further 48 matters were resolved through mediation, taking the overall number of disposed matters to 1,712. A total of Rs 2,40,94,37,087.38 was disbursed during the three-day exercise.
Day-wise disposal
On August 21, 588 cases were listed, of which 402 were settled or disposed of.
On August 22, 1,159 cases were listed and 350 were settled or disposed of.
On August 23, 1,538 cases were listed, with 912 matters settled or disposed of.
The Supreme Court has clarified that the Samadhan exercise was not limited to the three-day Special Lok Adalat. Several matters were also amicably resolved between April 21 and August 20 as part of the pre-settlement process.
Judges who presided over the Lok Adalat
The Lok Adalat benches comprised the Chief Justice of India and other sitting Supreme Court judges, along with Senior Advocates and Advocates-on-Record. The bench composition was revised during the three-day exercise, with the Supreme Court issuing separate notices for August 21, 22 and 23.
August 21: The benches were headed by CJI Surya Kant, along with other sitting judges of the Supreme Court, including Justice Joymalya Bagchi, Justice V. Mohana, Justice K. Vinod Chandran, Justice N.V. Anjaria, Justice R. Mahadevan, and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar, among others.
August 22: The Special Lok Adalat benches were presided over by CJI Surya Kant and other sitting judges, with the composition revised for the second day of the exercise.
August 23: The final day saw further revised bench compositions, including a separate Special Lok Adalat Bench in Court No. 12. The Supreme Court issued revised notices for the benches on the concluding day.
Senior Registrars and other Registry officials assisted the benches, while Senior Advocates and Advocates-on-Record participated as members. The benches sought to facilitate settlements by encouraging parties to arrive at mutually acceptable resolutions voluntarily.
The matters taken up covered a broad range of disputes considered amenable to settlement, including matrimonial and family disputes, property disputes, motor accident claims, land acquisition and compensation matters, tax disputes, service and labour matters, banking disputes, consumer and RERA matters, disputes under the Negotiable Instruments Act, rent and eviction matters, transfer petitions and other civil disputes. The categories officially identified by the Supreme Court include banking, civil law, compensation and MACT matters, consumer and RERA disputes, family laws, labour and industrial laws, land acquisition, property tax, rent and eviction, service laws, transfer petitions and direct and indirect taxation.
CJI Surya Kant on objective of Samadhan Samaroh
Recently, CJI Surya Kant had said that the initiative was aimed at resolving disputes in a manner that leaves both parties with a sense that they have “both won”.
Speaking in an interview with Akashwani’s News On AIR, the CJI said litigants undergo considerable stress during judicial proceedings and that the focus of the initiative was to facilitate mutually acceptable solutions.
The CJI had said the initiative would use mediation benches, gram panchayats, conciliation and community mediation to facilitate settlements.
The Supreme Court’s Samadhan Samaroh 2026 officially commenced on April 21 and was designed around the principle of participative justice and consent-based resolution. The Court has described the initiative as “Supreme Court Action for Mediated Adjudication and Disputes Harmonization Across Nation” and said its objective is to facilitate amicable settlement of pending matters before the apex court.
The Court has emphasised that Lok Adalats allow parties to resolve disputes through consent and dialogue, reducing the time and expense associated with prolonged litigation while providing greater certainty and finality to litigants. The process also helps conserve judicial time for matters requiring adjudication and contributes to reducing pendency.
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