Till July 2008, the judiciary in Maharashtra had not been hit by the ‘western bug’ of mediation, which is so popular in the US, that 80% of the cases are settled through this alternative dispute redressal forum.
Till July 2008, the judiciary in Maharashtra had not been hit by the ‘western bug’ of mediation, which is so popular in the US, that 80% of the cases are settled through this alternative dispute redressal forum.
However, now that it has, there has been over 800% increase in the cases that are referred to mediation centres across the state now.
As per the data available from July 2008 till December 2009, there were 1650 cases referred for mediation. However, from January 2010 till December 2010, the number is 14,799 cases. This speaks a lot for people’s much-needed relief from the unending litigations they were subjected to, prior to the inclusion of mediation.
Member secretary PN Deshmukh of the Maharashtra State Legal Aid Services Authority (MSLA), said “Though the concept was always there, India had never accepted it to be a form of dispute resolving. Now the mindset is slowly changing. Now more people prefer to resolve their disputes amicably.”
The mediation process is more often referred to as ‘informal dispute resolving’ where the mediator hears the parties jointly and separately.
As per the case in dispute a mediator who is well acquainted with and has thorough knowledge of subject is appointed.
The mediators are given specialised training and only a lawyer who has more than 15 years of experience or a retired judge can be appointed as a mediator.
The main aim of the process is to save time, the process is time-bound and has to end in 60 days from the day of first sitting.
The type of cases that are referred for mediation are not limited to cheque bouncing and marital disputes, but other contested matters like land acquisition, family property disputes, commercial disputes and sometimes even international disputes for child custody.
Bombay high court, Chief Justice Mohit Shah, while inaugurating a mediation centre recently said “As of now in India the concept of mediation might seem like westernised but it is more effective and it should be used more often in Indian courts. Moreover, the population of judges/million people in India which is 13.5/million people is very low, as compared to 107/million people in the US and 51/million people in the UK, thus these forms of ‘Appropriate Dispute Resolution’ (ADR) can prove to be very effective in reducing the pending cases in our courts”.
Deshmukh adds “After a recent Supreme Court judgment, allowing a case to be referred for mediation even without the consent of the parties is acting as a major catalyst. Now courts, on finding that matters can be settled through mediation, proactively refer them to us”.
Vijay Mathankar a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who specialises in cases related to Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT), said “The process of mediation is more conducive and time saving for the litigants and the orders passed here can be challenged, thus parties would surely want to first try and resolve their disputes though mediation. It’s going to be more popular in the times to come in India”.
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