Bandra family court turns 25 on October 7

On October 7, the Bandra family court would turn 25. It was in 1989 that the court began to address matrimonial matters under the Family Court Act. Over the years, the court was popularly referred as the 'divorce' court but the collective efforts of advocates, judges and counsellors, helped warring couples to reconcile, mediate and amicably settle their matters, thereby continuing their faith in the institution of marriage.

Advocate Sajan Oommen, president of the Family Court Advocate Bar Association, said, "Earlier, it was called as 'divorce' court but now efforts are made for mutual settlement of cases among couples. Advocates are trained regularly to work with couples to resolve their disputes."

A total of 10 trained mediators, 45 advocate mediators and six judge mediators, are enrolled on the panel of the family court, to help couples resolve their issues. Now, there are experts to handle matrimonial disputes. This could be judged by the strength of life time members of the bar association, currently there are 800 life members. Oommen said, "Earlier, every lawyer would take up matrimonial cases but now it has become a specialised branch of law and there are dedicated advocates for it."

The family court has a good record when it comes to disposal of cases, till now around 12,000 cases are pending, of which, 8,000 are less than two years old. Advocate Paresh Desai said, "Steps like pre-litigation mediation clinic, in which couples are counselled before they file for divorce, has been a step forward in resolving matrimonial disputes. It helps address petty differences, which otherwise have the possibility of aggravating, if dealt in court."

On October 7, the Bar association is going to hold a function where the Chief Justice of the Bombay high court, Mohit Shah and other judges of HC are invited.