Legal Services Authorities — Amendments

Amendment	Year	Description	Impact
Act 37 of 2002	2002	The Legal Services Authorities (Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Chapter VI-A into the 1987 Act, establishing the Permanent Lok Adalat framework for specified pre-litigation public-utility disputes. This is a statutory amendment, not a constitutional amendment.	Created a distinct sequence of conciliation followed, where legally permitted, by adjudication. It does not confer the same merits-deciding power on ordinary Lok Adalats or remove the new forum’s subject-matter and procedural limits.