National Lok Adalats dispose of thousands of maintenance cases every year, and Delhi’s Family Courts routinely refer pending applications under Section 144 of the BNSS, the Hindu Marriage Act and the DV Act to them. The settlement is quick and the certificate is issued the same day — but parties often sign without understanding the legal machinery they have engaged. What exactly is a Lok Adalat award in a maintenance case? Can it be appealed, ignored, executed, or altered when incomes change? This explainer sets out the framework.
How maintenance cases reach the Lok Adalat
Two streams feed the forum. Pending cases — maintenance applications under Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, interim maintenance in divorce proceedings, monetary relief claims under the DV Act — are referred with the parties’ consent by the court seized of them, typically to a National Lok Adalat date. Pre-litigation disputes can also be placed before a Permanent Lok Adalat or taken up on an application to the legal services authority. In either stream, the essence is identical: the Lok Adalat has no power to adjudicate; it can only record a settlement the parties actually reach.
The anatomy of the award
Drafting the settlement: where cases are won years later
Most post-settlement litigation traces back to loose drafting on the settlement day. A maintenance settlement should specify: the monthly amount and the date of each month by which it is payable; the mode (bank transfer to a named account); whether the amount covers the wife alone or children too, with separate figures for each; the treatment of arrears up to the settlement date; the relationship of the settled amount to any parallel orders under other statutes, so double recovery claims cannot arise; any agreed escalation (an annual percentage increase is common and enforceable as part of the decree); and the consequences of default. Where the settlement is a composite one — resolving DV, maintenance and divorce proceedings together — each case and its disposal terms should be listed by number.
A settlement that says only “respondent shall pay Rs 15,000 per month” leaves open every question that matters: from when, until when, for whom, and what happens on default. The Lok Adalat bench will record whatever the parties place before it; the discipline of completeness is counsel’s.
The room left for change
Maintenance differs from a one-time money settlement because the obligation is inherently continuing and the law refuses to freeze it against reality. Section 146 of the BNSS permits alteration of a maintenance allowance on proof of a change in the circumstances of either party; Section 25(2) of the DV Act performs the same office for orders under that Act. A settlement recorded as a Lok Adalat award fixes the arrangement as the agreed order — but the alteration jurisdiction operates on orders, and a genuinely changed world can be brought back before the court. Expect scrutiny: a husband seeking reduction months after agreeing to a figure, or a wife seeking enhancement without any intervening event, will be asked what has changed since the award. The change must be real, material and post-settlement.
Default and enforcement
Where payments stop, the recipient is not remitted to a fresh suit. The award is executed as a decree, and in Section 144 BNSS matters the Magistrate’s enforcement powers — including warrants for levying unpaid amounts — remain the fast lane. Arrears should be pursued promptly and each default documented; enforcement, like maintenance itself, rewards the organised litigant.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice or a solicitation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What legal status does a Lok Adalat award have?
Under Section 21 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, every award of a Lok Adalat is deemed to be a decree of a civil court, is final and binding on all parties, and no appeal lies against it. It is executable like any decree, and in maintenance matters the referring court’s enforcement machinery remains available.
Can a party resile from the settlement afterwards?
Not by appeal — none lies. A party contending that consent was obtained by fraud or that there was no genuine settlement must challenge the award in appropriate proceedings, a narrow and exceptional remedy. Buyer’s remorse about the amount agreed is not a ground.
If maintenance was settled, can it ever be increased or reduced?
A settlement fixes the arrangement on the circumstances then existing. Maintenance law, however, contemplates alteration on proof of a change in circumstances — Section 146 of the BNSS for orders under Section 144, and Section 25(2) of the DV Act for DV monetary orders. A genuine, material change after the settlement — job loss, serious illness, remarriage — can ground an application, though courts scrutinise attempts to reopen recent settlements closely.
How is an unpaid Lok Adalat maintenance settlement enforced?
As a decree, by execution; and where the award is in a Section 144 BNSS proceeding, the summary enforcement of maintenance orders — including warrants for levying the amount — remains the practical route. Certified copies of the award are issued free, and no court fee applies to Lok Adalat proceedings.