Daily Prelims Notes 15 August 2022

Daily Prelims Notes

15 August 2022

Table Of Contents

1. Concessional Tax Regime
2. Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs (DESH) Bill
3. Monetary Policy Trends
4. Gross savings rate-Trends
5. Behind BJP’s break with old allies — a radical change in India’s party system
6. Centre may sell 13 block gold mines in Uttar Pradesh and Andhra this month
7. Did Veer Savarkar ‘propose’ two-nation theory? How Islamists and Congress have lied about the idea that is inherent in Islamic theology
8. It’s all about money – the evolution of banking sector in India
9. The evergreen revolution: Making hunger history
10. An event to flag
11. Startup India Seed Fund Scheme
12. Karnataka govt ad on Har Ghar Tiranga omits Nehru, features Savarkar prominently
13. Lokadalats

1. Concessional Tax Regime

Subject : Economy

Section: Fiscal Policy

Context: The government aims to establish a tax regime with no exemptions and deductions.

Details:

• The Union Budget 2020-21 introduced a new tax regime.
• It gave taxpayers the option to choose between the old regime and the new tax regime.
• The intention behind the move was to provide significant relief to individual taxpayers and to simplify the income-tax law.
• Outcome- people who have finished their home and education loans are willing to shift to the new tax regime as they have no exemptions to claim.
• A similar tax regime for corporate taxpayers was introduced in September 2019 by significantly lowering rates and removing exemptions.
  • It reduced the base corporate tax for:
    •  existing companies to 22 percent from 30 per cent
    • new manufacturing firms, incorporated after October 1, 2019, and starting operations before March 31, 2024, to 15 per cent from 25 per cent.
  • Companies opting for these new tax rates will have to forego all exemptions and incentives.

Concept:

Old Tax regime:

It is a tax regime with various deductions and exemptions.

Concessional (new) Tax Regime

• Assessees willing to forgo deductions and exemptions such as those under sections 80C, 80D, house rental allowance and leave travel allowance could choose to pay tax on their income at a reduced rate.
• It requires the taxpayer to forego certain specified deductions. 
  • These include standard deduction of Rs 50,000, deduction under section 80C of Rs 1.50 lakh and interest on self-occupied property of Rs 2 lakh, deductions which are availed by most taxpayers.

Tax rate under these regime:

2. Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs (DESH) Bill

Subject : Economy

Section: Fiscal Policy

Context: The Union Budget 2022, proposed to replace the existing law governing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) with a new legislation to enable states to become partners in ‘Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs’ (DESH).

Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs (DESH) Bill 

• It proposed to create developmental hubs, whose focus is not limited to exports, but also to cater to the domestic markets,boosting additional economic activity, generating employment, and integrating various industrial hubs.
• It will integrate existing industrial estates such as textiles and food parks by converting them into developmental hubs.
• The DESH Bill classifies two types of developmental hubs — Enterprise and services hubs.
  • Enterprise hubs will have land-based area requirements and be allowed for both manufacturing and services activities,
  • Services hubs will have built-up area requirements and be allowed for only services-related activities.
    •  Currently, only specified services such as IT, ITeS are allowed in special economic zones.
  • These hubs, which will come up under the regional boards of states, could be created by Centre or states or jointly by both or by any goods and services provider.
• It seeks to provide certain incentives such as:
  • Retention of zero-rating of IGST (integrated goods and services tax) on domestic procurement by a unit in an SEZ;
  • Continuation of indirect tax benefits to developers of these zones; and
  • Allowing depreciation on sale of used capital goods cleared to domestic tariff areas.
  • Extension of  the corporate tax rate to 15 per cent without any exemptions for units undertaking authorised operations in these development hubs.
  • States can also provide support measures to these zones to boost manufacturing and job creation.
  • The customs duty would only be paid on the inputs used and not on the expensive final goods.

Why?

• SEZs are losing their importance after imposition of minimum alternate tax and introduction of sunset clauses for removal of tax incentives.
• Units in SEZs used to enjoy:
  • 100 percent income tax exemption on export income for the first five years,
  • 50 per cent for the next five years and
  • 50 per cent of the ploughed back export profit for another five years.
    • In the Budget 2016-17, the government had announced that the income tax benefits to new SEZ units would be available to only those units which commence activity before March 31, 2020.
• Exports from these SEZs have fallen to $102.3 billion in FY21, from $112.3 billion in FY20- They account for less than 20% of exports now.
• Inconsistent with the WTO regime- A WTO panel in 2019 said that incentives given to entities located in SEZs violated the agreement on subsidies.

Concept:

Special Economic Zone:

• An SEZ is a territory within a country that is typically duty-free and has different business and commercial laws chiefly to encourage investment and create employment.
• Asia’s first EPZ (Export Processing Zones) was established in 1965 at Kandla, Gujarat.
• While these EPZs had a similar structure to SEZs, the government began to establish SEZs in 2000 under the Foreign Trade Policy to redress the infrastructural and bureaucratic challenges that were seen to have limited the success of EPZs.
• The Special Economic Zones Act was passed in 2005. The Act came into force along with the SEZ Rules in 2006.
  • Objectives of the SEZ Act:
    • To create additional economic activity.
    • To boost the export of goods and services.
    • To generate employment.
    • To boost domestic and foreign investments.
    • To develop infrastructure facilities.
• India’s SEZs were structured closely with China’s successful model.
• Presently, 379 SEZs are notified, out of which 265 are operational
• There are eight functional SEZs in India at the moment including — Santa Cruz (Maharashtra), Cochin (Kerala), Kandla and Surat (Gujarat), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Falta (West Bengal) and Noida (Uttar Pradesh).
• About 64% of the SEZs are located in five states – Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• The Board of Approval is the apex body and is headed by the Secretary, Department of Commerce (Ministry of Commerce and Industry).
• Major Incentives and Facilities Available to SEZ:
  • Duty-free import or domestic procurement of goods for developing, operating and maintaining SEZ units.
  • 100% Income tax exemption on export income for SEZ units under the Income Tax Act for first 5 years, 50% for next 5 years thereafter and 50% of the ploughed back export profit for next 5 years. (Sunset Clause for Units will become effective from 2020).
  • Units are exempted from Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT).
  • They were exempted from Central Sales Tax, Service Tax and State sales tax. These have now subsumed into GST and supplies to SEZs are zero-rated under the IGST Act, 2017.
  • Single window clearance for Central and State level approvals.
  • There is no need for a license for import.
  • In the manufacturing sector, barring a few segments, 100% FDI is allowed.
  • Profits earned are permitted to be repatriated freely with no need for any dividend balancing.
  • There is no need for separate documentation for customs and export-import policy.
  • Many SEZs offer developed plots and ready-to-use space.

Status:

• As of June 30, 2022, the government has given formal approvals to 425 SEZ developers, out of which 268 are operational.
• These zones have attracted about Rs 6.5 lakh crore investments and employ about 27 lakh persons.
• During April-June this fiscal, exports from these zones rose by 32 per cent.

3. Monetary Policy Trends

Subject : Economy

Section: Fiscal Policy

Context: As the institutional environment, both domestic and global, changes, the tasks of monetary policy also change.

Details:

• The Reserve Bank of India was set up as a central monetary authority in 1935.
• Like all central banks in developing economies, RBI has been playing both a developmental and a regulatory role. 
  • In its developmental role, RBI focused on creating an appropriate financial infrastructure in the country.
• The evolution of India’s monetary policy by the RBI reflects the changing concerns over the last seven decades.

4. Gross savings rate-Trends

Subject : Economy

Section: Monetary  Policy

Context: In the last 30 years, savings and investment opportunities have grown by leaps and bounds.

Trends:

• India’s gross savings rate –increased from 9 percent of GDP in the 1950s to over 30 percent of GDP in recent years.
  • Savings represent sums put away by both individuals and institutions (public and private sectors).
    • While savings by the public sector have been declining in recent years. 
    • Both  households and the private corporate sector have raised their contributions. 
• As per the Indian Household Finance Report 2017-

Concept:

• Gross Domestic Saving is GDP minus final consumption expenditure.
• It is expressed as a percentage of GDP.
• Gross Domestic Saving consists of savings of the household sector, private corporate sector and public sector.
• Gross domestic savings had followed a downward trajectory after 2008. 
• The more concerning issue is the perceptible shift of investors’ preference towards physical assets as compared to financial assets. This can be attributable to a rise in inflationary pressures. 
• Gross capital formation is a function of gross domestic savings.

5. Behind BJP’s break with old allies — a radical change in India’s party system

Subject : History

Section: Modern History 

Concept:

• From 1989 to 2014, India saw an era of coalition politics, its third party system, where the BJP and the Congress were the main poles for alliances
• The first and second party system in India was dominated by the Congress party in the years following independence, from 1947 to around 1989, when even in 1967 when the Samyukta Vidhayak Dal (SVD) governments and the 1977 Janata government came about, the Congress remained the main pole around which party politics revolved.

SamyuktaVidhayak Dal

• SamyuktaVidhayak Dal was coalition of parties formed in several north Indian states after the 1967 assembly elections, made up of the Bharatiya Kranti Dal, the Samyukta Socialist Party, the Praja Socialist Party and the Jana Sangh. The coalition opposed the Indian National Congress party that had hitherto single-handedly dominated Indian politics

Bharatiya Kranti Dal

• Bharatiya Kranti Dal was a political party in India, formed by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Charan Singh. The party was founded at a meeting in Lucknow in October 1967.
• After the 1977 general election, the party merged into the Janata Party.

Samyukta Socialist Party

• Samyukta Socialist Party (transl. United Socialist Party; abbr. SSP), was a political party in India from 1964 to 1972. SSP was formed through a split in the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) in 1964. In 1972, SSP was reunited with PSP, forming the Socialist Party

Praja Socialist Party

• The Praja Socialist Party, abbreviated as PSP, was an Indian political party. It was founded when the Socialist Party, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, RambrikshBenipuri, Acharya Narendra Deva and Basawon Singh (Sinha), merged with the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party led by J. B. Kripalani (former president of the Indian National Congress and a close associate of Jawaharlal Nehru).
• In September 1952, the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party merged with the Socialist Party with J. B. Kriplani as the chairman and Asoka Mehta as the general secretary.

Bharatiya Jana Sangh

• The Bharatiya Jana Sangh (abbreviated as BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the political arm of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation.
• In 1977, it merged with several other left, centre and right parties opposed to the Indian National Congress and formed the Janata Party.
• In 1980, Jana Sangh faction broke away from Janata Party over the issue of dual membership (of the political Janata Party and the social organization RSS), and formed the Bharatiya Janata Party.

6. Centre may sell 13 block gold mines in Uttar Pradesh and Andhra this month

Subject : Geography

Section: Economic

Context:
The government plans to put on block 13 gold mines in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in the ongoing month amid its efforts to give a boost to the mining sector’s contribution to the country’s gross domestic product.

• The gold mines in Andhra Pradesh include Ramagiri North Block, Boksampalli North Block, Boksampalli South Block, Javakula-A Block, Javakula-B Block, Javakula-C Block, Javakula-D Block, Javakula-E Block, Javakula-F Block.
• Of the three mines in Uttarpradesh, two gold mines — Sonapahari Block and Dhurva-Biadand Block– are in Sonbhadra.
• India has 500 million tonnes of gold ore reserves,The largest reserves of gold ores are located in Bihar (44 per cent), followed by Rajasthan (25 per cent), Karnataka (21 per cent), West Bengal (3 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (3 per cent), Jharkhand (2 per cent).
• The remaining 2 per cent reserves are in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
• The Government of India recently amended the Minerals Evidence of Mineral Contents Rules to allow auction of composite licence at G4 level for deep-seated minerals, including gold.
• Countries With the Largest Gold Reserves in the World US, Germany, Italy, France, Russia

7. Did Veer Savarkar ‘propose’ two-nation theory? How Islamists and Congress have lied about the idea that is inherent in Islamic theology

Subject : History

Section: Modern History 

• The two-nation theory was first promulgated way back in 1876 by Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of the Aligarh Muslim University, and not by Savarkar in 1937
• Syed Ahmad Khan said in 1876, “I am convinced now that Hindus and Muslims could never become one nation as their religion and way of life was quite distinct from each other.”
• 14^th August,2020, the second Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, which was announced by prime minister Narendra Modi last year to commemorate the victims and sufferings of people during the Partition of India. During the partition of India which had spilt British India into three parts into two countries of India and Pakistan, millions of people were displaced and suffered, while the estimates of deaths due to partition-related death range from 2,00,000 to 20,00,000.
• Annie Besant spoke of the massacre in her book ‘The Future of Indian Politics’.

Timeline of Partition of India

• The partition of Bengal served as the first act of the British towards breaking Hindu Muslim unity. The introduction of the Morley Minto reforms in 1909 proved to be a critical juncture in struggle against colonial domination in India.
• The reforms introduced a system under which separate electorates were formed wherein only Muslims could vote for Muslim candidates in constituencies reserved for them
• The Montagu Chelmsford reforms or the Government of India Act 1919 in addition to the reservation of seats for Muslims, included provisions for the reservation of seats in provincial and Imperial legislatures for Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Indian Christians and domicile Europeans.
• After World War 1, the Muslims in India were dismayed by the fact that the Caliph of Turkey would no longer retain his powers over the Muslim holy places. The Caliph was viewed by the Muslims as their spiritual head and it was his duty to look after the holy places. When Gandhi ji and other Congress leaders were planning the Non-Cooperation movement in 1920, the Muslims agreed to join them to express their discontent about the above mentioned issue. The period for which the movement persisted, there was remarkable Hindu Muslim unity in terms of their participation in it.
• Following the Chauri Chaura incident where some British policemen were killed due to some action initiated by the participants of the Non-Cooperation movement, the movement itself was called off by Gandhi j The Muslim leaders felt betrayed since their cause of revolting against the removal of the Caliphate was left unfinished due to the calling off of the movement
• After 1930 the demand for a separate Muslim Nation after independence began to be articulated. Sir Muhammad Iqbal became the leader of the Muslim League in 1930 and for the first time articulated a demand for a separate Muslim state
• The policy of the British to divide and rule got exemplified in the Communal Award of 1932. This policy further strengthened the provisions for separate electorates.
• In 1940 Jinnah declared at the Muslim League conference held at Lahore, “Hindus and the Muslims belong to two different religions, philosophies, social customs and literature.
• The Cripps Mission in 1942 suggested that India be granted a Dominion status under the British empire. The Mission did not accept the demand for Pakistan but allowed for a provision whereby provinces could secede from the Indian Union.
• The Cabinet Mission plan of 1946 began by arguing for transfer of power to a united India with provisional autonomy to Muslims dominated areas. An interim government was formed in September 1946 but it only had representatives from the Congress as the Muslim League was not willing to settle for anything less than an independent Pakistan
• On the 16th August 1946 Jinnah declared Direct Action Day and the Muslim League raised the demand for an independent Pakistan.
• The plan to partition British India into two states was announced on 3rd June 1947.

8. It’s all about money – the evolution of banking sector in India

Subject :History

Section: Modern India

• Robert Clive could have never met with success, had it not been for the banking firm of the Jagat Seths. Similarly, one of the key reasons that Delhi eventually fell in 1858, a year into the First War of Independence, was the tacit support the British got from the Hindu financiers of Chandni Chowk
• In Chennai, the Nagarathars, the Arya Vysyas, the Gujaratis and the Marwaris are commemorated forever in the area known as Sowcarpet. This was from where theSahukars or money lenders assisted the Company’s trade.
• The Chola economy flourished on trade and conquest and the funds from one went to finance the other. By the 12th century, from Periya Puranam, we find money lending and banking was firmly established. The story of Thirugnanasambandar in this monumental work has reference to a merchant of Vaippur who loaned mone
• In the 16th century work Amuktamalyada, the story of Andal, King Krishnadeva Raya describes the business community of Madurai
• The Indian Overseas Bank was promoted by the Sir MCtMuthiahChettiar family in 1937. But this did not mean that British banks were on the wane. They catered to their exclusively British clientele. The three Presidencies had their own banks and in
• The matter dragged till 1921 when the Imperial Bank of India was formed by their amalgamation.
• Then in 1935, the country got its own financial governing body — the Reserve Bank of India.
• Independence brought about many changes, including the nationalisation of the Imperial Bank in 1952, and changing its name to State Bank of India. And it had to change its ways – to suit a new polity with new aims. But the fundamental tenets of banking have remained unchanged over the centuries.

9. The evergreen revolution: Making hunger history

Subject :Agriculture

• The green revolution in the 1960s and 1970s was based on the development and spread of new genetic strains of wheat, rice, maize and other crops characterised by their ability to utilise water, sunlight and plant nutrients effectively and convert them into grains.
• According to most estimates, farming is no longer remunerative and over 40 per cent of farmers would like to quit if they have an option

Need for Evergreen Revolution:

Evergreen revolution refers to productivity improvement in perpetuity without ecological and social harm. The evergreen revolution involves the integration of ecological principles in technology development and dissemination.

Dr. M. S. Swaminathan coined the term ‘’Evergreen Revolution” to highlight the pathway of increasing production and productivity in a manner such that short and long term goals of food production are not mutually antagonistic. The logic is to produce more from less, less land, less pesticide, less water and it must be an evergreen revolution to get sustainable agriculture.

• Traditional crops like jowar, bajra, pulses and fodder should be revived and promoted under the Prime Minister’s package for seed replacement.

Millets

• Millets are often referred to as Superfood and its production can be seen as an approach for sustainable agriculture and a healthy world.

Millets in India:

• The three major millet crops currently grown in India are jowar (sorghum), bajra (pearl millet) and ragi (finger millet).
• Along with that, India grows a rich array of bio-genetically diverse and indigenous varieties of “small millets” like kodo, kutki, chenna and sanwa.
• Major producers include Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.

Need for Reviving Millet Cultivation:

• Nutritional Security:
  • Millets are less expensive and nutritionally superior to wheat & rice owing to their high protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals like iron content.
• Millets are also rich in calcium and magnesium.
  • For example, Ragi is known to have the highest calcium content among all the food grains.
• Its high iron content can fight high prevalence of anaemia in Indian women of reproductive age and infants.
• Climate Resilient:
  • They are also harder and drought-resistant crops, which has to do with their short growing season (70-100 days, as against 120-150 days for paddy/wheat) and lower water requirement (350-500 mm versus 600-1,200 mm).
• Economic Security:
  • As low investment is needed for production of millets, these can prove to be a sustainable income source for farmers.
• Can Tackle Health Issues:
  • Millets can help tackle lifestyle problems and health challenges such as obesity and diabetes as they are gluten-free and have a low glycemic index (a relative ranking of carbohydrates in foods according to how they affect blood glucose levels).
  • Millets are rich in antioxidants.
• The Union Agriculture Ministry, in April 2018, declared millets as “Nutri-Cereals”, considering their “high nutritive value” and also “anti-diabetic properties”.
• 2018 was also observed as ‘National Year of Millets”.
• The government has hiked the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Millets, which came as a big price incentive for farmers.
• The United Nation General Assembly adopted an India-sponsored resolution to mark 2023 as the International Year of Millets.

10. An event to flag

Subject : History

Section: Modern History

Context:

• The national flag was a slight changeover from the swaraj flag which was first hoisted at the Indian National Congress Session in Calcutta in 1911 by the late DadabhaiNaoroji
• On July 22 July, 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the following Resolution before the Constituent Assembly of India: “Resolved that the National Flag of India shall be horizontal tricolour of deep Saffron ( Kesari), white and dark green in equal proportion. In the centre of the white band, there shall be a Wheel in navy blue to represent the Charkha. The design of the Wheel shall be that of the Wheel ( Chakra) which appears on the abacuse of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Asoka… The diameter of the Wheel shall approximate to the width of the white band and the ratio of the width to the length of the Flag shall ordinarily be 2:3.”
• Article 51A describes Fundamental Duties of every Citizen of India including “to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the national Flag and the National Anthem” as also “to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom”.

11. Startup India Seed Fund Scheme

Subject : Economy

Section: Fiscal Policy

Context:

• The Scheme was announced during the ‘Prarambh: StartupIndia International Summit’ which marked the five-year anniversary of the Startup India initiative.

About the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS):

• Aim: To provide financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry, and commercialization.
• Launched by:Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) with an outlay of Rs. 945 Crore.
• Some Eligibility Conditions:
  • A startup, recognized by DPIIT, incorporated not more than 2 years ago at the time of application.
  • Startups should not have received more than Rs. 10 lakh of monetary support under any other Central or State Government scheme.
• Features:
  • It will support an estimated 3,600 entrepreneurs through 300 incubators in the next 4 years.
  • An Experts Advisory Committee (EAC), constituted by DPIIT, will be responsible for the overall execution and monitoring of the Scheme.
  • Grants of upto Rs. 5 crore will be provided to the eligible incubators selected by the committee.
  • The selected incubators will provide grants of up to Rs. 20 lakh for validation of proof of concept, or prototype development, or product trials to startups.
  • Investments of up to Rs. 50 lakh will be provided to the startups for market entry, commercialization, or scaling up through convertible debentures or debt-linked instruments.
• Expected Benefit:
  • It will help in creating a robust startup ecosystem in Tier 2 and 3 regions, as the smaller towns in India are often not provided with appropriate funding.

The MAARG Portal

• It is by Startup India is a one stop mentorship platform to facilitate mentorship for startups across diverse sectors, functions, stages, geographies, and backgrounds.
• Startups can connect with academicians, industry experts, successful founders, seasoned investors, and other experts to get personalized advice on growth strategy, seek clarity, and get practical advice.

Startup India

• Startup India was introduced in 2016 as a call to innovators, entrepreneurs, and thinkers of the nation to lead from the front in driving India’s sustainable growth and create large scale employment opportunities.
• The entrepreneurial portal had more than 65,000 startups registered.
• Of which, 100 attained the ‘unicorn’ status recently, bringing the total as of date to 90.
• India is ranked third among global startup ecosystems.
• India’s largest online entrepreneurship platform allows startups to network, access free tools & resources and participate in programs & challenges.

12. Karnataka govt ad on Har Ghar Tiranga omits Nehru, features Savarkar prominently

Subject :History

Section: Modern history  

13 . Lokadalats

Subject :Polity

Section : Judiciary

Context: Over 74 lakh pending and pre-litigation cases, many of them part of a huge backlog created by the pandemic, were settled across the country in the third National Lok Adalat.

In a move away from convention, the legal services authorities under Chief Justice of India-designate, Justice U.U. Lalit, who is the executive chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA),used technological platforms to conduct ‘digital lokadalat’ in Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Concept:

• Lok Adalat is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms, it is a forum where disputes/cases pending in the court of law or at pre-litigation stage are settled/ compromised amicably.
• The Lok Adalats are formed to fulfil the promise given by the preamble of the Indian Constitution– securing Justice – social, economic and political of every citizen of India.

Constitutional basis:

• Article 39A of the Constitution provides for free legal aid to the deprived and weaker sections of the society and to promote justice on the base of equal opportunity.
• Articles 14 of the Constitution also make it compulsory for the State to guarantee equality before the law.

Statutory provisions:

• Under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 Lok Adalats have been given statutory status.
• The decision made by the Lok Adalats is considered to be a verdict of a civil court and is ultimate and binding on all parties.

No appeal:

• There is no provision for an appeal against the verdict made by Lok Adalat.
• But, they are free to initiate litigation by approaching the court of appropriate jurisdiction by filing a case by following the required procedure, in exercise of their right to litigate.

Court fee:

• There is no court fee payable when a matter is filed in a Lok Adalat.
• Note: If a matter pending in the court of law is referred to the Lok Adalat and is settled subsequently, the court fee originally paid in the court on the complaints/petition is also refunded back to the parties.

Nature of Cases to be Referred to Lok Adalat:

• Any case pending before any court.
• Any dispute which has not been brought before any court and is likely to be filed before the court.
• Provided that any matter relating to an offence not compoundable under the law shall not be settled in Lok Adalat.