Ranchi: The District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Ranchi, has helped resolve a nearly 50-year-old dispute between the commercial taxes department and Tata Steel during the Supreme Court’s special Lok Adalat, also called ‘Samadhan Samaroh’.The special Lok Adalat is being held from Friday to Sunday to settle cases pending before the apex court through mediation.According to the DLSA, the dispute arose after the commercial taxes department imposed a penalty of Rs 68.39 lakh on Tata Steel in 1977-78 over alleged suppression of stock.The company paid Rs 25 lakh but challenged the remaining penalty before Jharkhand high court. After the high court quashed the penalty order, the department moved the Supreme Court, where the case had been pending since 2019.The Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority (Jhalsa) subsequently referred the matter to the DLSA, Ranchi, for mediation. An agreement was reached after 10 rounds of talks conducted by mediator P N Singh.
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Under the settlement, Tata Steel agreed to pay 5% of the outstanding penalty amount, in addition to the Rs 25 lakh already deposited.DLSA secretary Rakesh Roshan said SC disposed of the case after the special Lok Adalat hearing. Representatives of both parties participated in the proceedings through videoconferencing.Sources said SC had referred 553 pending cases, including around 400 involving govt entities, to Jhalsa for mediation. Of these, 15 have been resolved so far.Jhalsa handled 125 cases at its headquarters, while the remaining matters were distributed among district legal services authorities according to the convenience of parties.
