New Delhi: More than five lakh cases have been referred for mediation by courts across India, including state high courts, in the first month of the ongoing “Mediation for the Nation” campaign, ThePrint has learnt.
The 90-day drive, launched by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and the Supreme Court’s Mediation & Conciliation Project Committee (MCPC) on 1 July, is the first such campaign to popularise mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism.
Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, who is the Patron-in-Chief of NALSA, and Justice Surya Kant, the executive chairman of NALSA and the MCPC, launched the special campaign to encourage citizens to adopt this friendly mode of dispute resolution.
The eligible categories of mediation cases are matrimonial disputes, accident claims, domestic violence, cheque bouncing cases, commercial disputes, service matters, criminal compoundable matters, consumer disputes, debt recovery, partition, eviction, land acquisition, and other suitable civil matters.
The over five lakh cases sent for mediation were picked out of a list of 1.68 crore identified cases with potential for settlement. The entire list could not be referred for possible settlement during the drive due to inadequate infrastructure in court-attached mediation centres and a shortage of sufficient mediators, according to sources familiar with the matter.
“At present, there are only 19,000 trained mediators in India. Though mediation centres have started in all the trial courts as well as High Courts, not all are well-equipped to hold settlement talks. Therefore, keeping in mind the current staff and support system that we have, around 5.12 lakh cases were assigned to the centres for negotiations,” one of the sources quoted above said.
The source added that the mediation centres are taking up the cases referred under the special drive in addition to those routinely sent by the courts for resolution. “This data does not include the references made by the courts in August under the normal process,” the source explained.
Another source said the drive aims to amicably settle at least two lakh cases. This campaign will conclude on 30 September, after which an analysis will be carried out to determine which categories recorded the maximum settlements through the mediation process.
“A comparative chart will also be prepared to show how these cases, pending in courts for years, have been settled in two to three sittings, depicting the benefits of mediation. This study will be widely shared with all the courts and stakeholders so that more cases can be referred to mediation,” the source added.
Among the cases chosen for mediation, cheque-bouncing matters filed under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act top the list with over 1.06 lakh cases in line for potential settlement. These are followed by 78,000 compoundable criminal cases, which can be legally compromised.
Matrimonial disputes came next with more than 65,000 cases, followed by land acquisition matters at 40,183.
“The current data defies the common refrain that mediation is meant for matrimonial cases only. Mediation is not limited to one specific type of matter, but is a technique that can be applied to end all kinds of cases except heinous crimes,” the second source cited above said.
The source added that once the analysis of all the cases is completed, the findings can be used to convince litigants, waiting in courts for years, to opt for mediation to end their disputes.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)