Democratisation of justice system- a case study of ryagatlapalle, the ‘first litigation free village’ of telangana

During the course of the past four decades, justice system reform has become an essential component in the struggle for both economic and political development in India. Despite India's democratic history over the last seventy-five years, it remains a country struggling with certain liberal democratic norms, one of which is enhancing the public's access to justice, and in so doing, dealing with problems plaguing its lower courts. Local courts in India particularly confront poor infrastructure, debilitating delays, under funding, and accusations of corruption, all of which act to restrict access to and confidence in the judiciary. However, one area of reform in which India has been quite active, and continues to be is that of alternatives to the formal justice system like Naya Panchayats, Lok Adalat, Consumer Forum, Public Interest Litigation etc.The present studyattempts to make an empirical analysis of unique Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism called ‘PANJUL’ adopted by Ryagatlapalle village of Biknur Mandal, Kamareddy District of Telangana state, which was declared, on 15th August 2022, as the ‘First Litigation Free Village’ of Telangana.For the past 40 years no case, from this village, has been filed neither in Police Station nor in any Court of Law and all the issues are settled at village level.