Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud remarked on Saturday that people often become so frustrated with lengthy court proceedings that they choose to settle, even when the settlement may not be particularly advantageous for them.

He lamented that the court process often becomes a punishment for litigants, leading them to believe that they should avoid the courts altogether.

"Log itna trast ho jate hain court ke mamlon se wo koi bhi settlement chahte hain. Bas court se dur kara dijiye (People are often fed up with court proceedings that they resort to whatever settlement they can. They think 'just keep us away from courts')," he said.

He conceded that the process itself is a punishment, which is a concern for us judges. However, due to the systemic inequalities involved in dispute settlements through mediation and Lok Adalat, judges participating in Lok Adalat often do not agree to settle matters for small amounts, even if the parties are willing.

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) was speaking at the commemoration of the week-long Lok Adalat held in the Supreme Court of India from July 29 to August 2, during which several benches of the top court disposed of over 1,000 cases.

In his address, the CJI also highlighted another issue faced by Supreme Court judges: the invisibility of litigants before the court.

"We judges of Supreme Court are used to sit on elevated dias and (only) lawyers (are) before us. We hardly know the clients like judges know in High Court or District Court. The people for whom we render justice in the Supreme Court is invisible to us and that we feel is a drawback of the work of Supreme Court. but as experienced SC judges we try to remember the face of the cause that comes to us. In that we are not distinct from the members who are before us and we are bound together as a human chain," the CJI said.

The Lok Adalat proceedings in the Supreme Court also featured a novel arrangement, with lawyers and judges sitting on the bench together for the first time to hear matters.

The CJI noted that the Lok Adalat panel included two judges along with one senior member from the Supreme Court Bar Association and one from the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association.

The CJI further emphasized that while the Supreme Court is located in Delhi, it is not the Supreme Court of Delhi but the Supreme Court of India.