India is rightly acclaimed for achieving a flourishing constitutional order, presided over by an inventive and activist judiciary, aided by a proficient bar, supported by the state and cherished by the public. At the same time, the courts, and tribunals where ordinary Indians might go for remedy and protection, are beset with massive problems of delay, cost, and ineffectiveness. Potential users avoid the courts; in spite of a longstanding reputation for litigiousness, existing evidence suggests that Indians avail themselves of the courts at a low
rate, and the rate appears to be falling. Still, the c ourts remain gridlocked. There is wide agreement that access to justice in India reforms that would enable ordinary people to invoke the remedies and protections of the law. The Lok Adalat, literally meaning people's court, and as the name suggests is a forum for promoting access to justice having a different source and character than the courts of the state. In fact, the Lok Adalat is a
creature of the state, but because of the pretension that it is not, it deserves examination under the rubric of an alternative, non-state justice system.