MANGALURU: Koragas, one of the few primitive tribes of India, have a community court system, “Namma Nyaya Koota”, through which various disputes are resolved free of cost. Launched in 2008, their court has settled 117 disputes in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts so far. The system consists of a jury of five members, including a chief judge and “Pancharu” (equivalent to lawyers). The court meets once a month. The cases are first referred to the jury members, who investigate them.
Mathady Kayarpalke, who was the judge of a recent “Namma Nyaya Koota”, said, “Many Koragas are economically backward and are unable to fight court cases as the legal proceedings are lengthy and time-consuming. We had two cases of marital disputes during a sitting last week at Puttur and one of them was resolved. At present, “Namma Nyaya Koota” is being held at community centres at the district level,” he said.
Sabitha Koraga, the first in the community to pursue a PhD degree, who works as an assistant sociology professor at Mangalore University, said there has been a good response to “Namma Nyaya Koota” and many disputes have been resolved quickly.
Ashok Shetty of Samagra Grameena Ashram, an NGO working for the welfare of indigenous tribal communities, including Koragas, said, “Namma Nyaya Koota” is based on the Gurikar system, which had a council headed by a ‘Gurikar’, who settled disputes. In the absence of a proper dispute-resolving mechanism, the community leaders were forced to come up with the idea of ‘Namma Nyaya Koota’ system in 2008 and formal proceedings began in 2010. Most of the cases referred to are of domestic violence and land disputes. Many cases, which could not be settled in courts, have been resolved here, he said.
He cited a case of a person working on the Kollur temple premises, who had married for the third time, though he had not divorced his second wife while his first wife passed away. It was the first marriage for the woman and after pregnancy, the man deserted her. The woman approached “Namma Nyaya Koota” and the man was ordered to pay Rs 1,000 to the court every month, which is transferred to her account.