NELLORE SUJANAMMA Vs. ATTIPALLI NAGI REDDY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These writ petitions are filed by the same petitioner feeling aggrieved by three separate Lok Adalat Awards in three separate pre-litigation cases.

(2.) For disposal of these writ petitions, the facts need not be discussed in detail. It will suffice to note that the petitioner alleged fraud against the private respondents in obtaining the impugned Lok Adalat Awards. Before approaching this Court by way of the present writ petitions, the petitioner filed three separate suits in the Court of the Principal District Judge, Nellore. These three suits were rejected at C.F. Stage by the District Court, mainly placing reliance upon the judgment in Batchu Subba Lakshmi v. Sannidhi Srinivasulu, (2010) 1 ALD 277 (DB).

(3.) Under section 21(1) of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, award of the Lok Adalat shall be deemed to be a decree of civil court. Under sub-section (2) thereof, every award made by the Lok Adalat shall be final and binding on all the parties to the dispute and no appeal shall lie to any court against the award. An identical issue came to be decided by a Division Bench of this Court in Kothakapu Muthyam Reddy and others v. Bhargavi Constructions, 2015 (5) ALT 476. In that case, the suit was filed for a declaration that paragraph 18 of the compromise recorded in the suit by the Lok Adalat insofar as it related to a certain piece of land was concerned as nonest in law for having been obtained by fraud and collusion. Defendant Nos.31 and 32 in the said suit filed I.A. No.894 of 2010 for rejection of the plaint. The civil court has accordingly rejected the plaint on the ground that in view of the judgment in Batchu Subba Lakshmi (1 supra) a suit for declaration to set aside the Lok Adalat Award by a party to the earlier suit is not maintainable. After a detailed discussion, the Division Bench held as follows: