New Delhi: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud batted for adopting and encouraging mediation, including online mediation, as a mode of dispute resolution other than litigation, saying it would reduce the courts’ caseload and has the potential to portray justice as collaborative rather than adversarial.
The CJI said it would especially come to the aid of women from marginalised communities as mediation makes lawless “intimidating” and less “alienating”.
He added that when the government, which is the biggest litigator but must “adopt the robes of a friend”, opts for this process, a message is sent that the government itself is not an adversarial opponent.
Justice Chandrachud was speaking at the inaugural session of a national conference on “Mediation at the Dawn of Golden Age”, organised by Samadhan at the Delhi High Court.
Samadhan or the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre was established in May 2006 to provide mediation as an appropriate method of alternate dispute resolution.
During the session, the high court signed a memorandum of understanding with the Uttarakhand High Court in relation to expanding the mediation process in the hill state.
“We stand at the dawn of the golden age of mediation. Mediation should not be considered as just an alternate dispute resolution mechanism,” the CJI said.
“Mediation offers citizens a forum to not only determine the outcomes of their disputes, but also determine the criteria and standards by which those outcomes are evaluated…. Mediation holds the potential to change the way we understand justice itself — from an adversarial, formal process to a more collaborative, interest-based process. In other words, mediation is much more than a movement to de-clog the courts,” he said.
Justice Chandrachud said the government of India will benefit from strategically adopting online dispute resolution mechanisms.
The event was attended by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul of the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, other high court judges, including Justices Manmohan and Sanjeev Sachdeva, Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani and several other dignitaries.
PTI