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Origin and Growth of Mediation in India
In one's everyday life one frequently goes over different types of contentions of whether humungous or trivial. Such clash may cause or lead to serious worry to the individuals concerned. Running from insignificant family conflicts to genuine lawful issues makes extreme pressure the individuals who face them or are legitimately related to them. The most ideal approach to determine such clashes is to discover something basic to us just as thinking about the qualities, convictions, emotions, and so forth that can empower us to meet up as well as make sense of an answer that can suit the wellbeing of the people in strife.
In the midst, all forms of conflict whether minor/humungous one always wishes to find a solution that can provide them with a solution. For that effect, one can conclude that mediation is one of the forms of a dispute resolution that strives for a permanent sense of peace and can effectively bring the parties towards harmony. Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution where the parties in dispute look to find an amicable solution to the problem by taking the assistance of a neutral third party who is the mediator. Role of the mediator is challenging as the mediator can only act as a facilitator to the resolution while giving out the maximum level of autonomy to the respected parties for in mediation it is said that it is a process for the parties in the dispute to find a solution acceptable to them while maintaining confidentiality and autonomy.
Mediation isn’t something new in Indian Context as it has been in place for a long time. It was a mode of dispute resolution which Indians have been using since the ancient times wherein the elders used to resolve the disputes. Later, in the Villages with the help of the Panchayats. With the advent of British Rule, the Anglo-Saxon dispute resolution had come up and the culture of mediation started fading away. After India’s Independence, the problems continued to rise, as the society became more complex, the problems were now of a nature that such disputes could not be settled like earlier. Due to the increasing population and needs of the people, it became very difficult to cope with the number of cases that were instituted creating an immense backlog of cases and that of docket explosion.
Taking an average, a filed case in India continues for a min period of 4-5 yrs and still losing party keeps on challenging the decision until all forums are. On the contrary, mediation can resolve the dispute in around 2.5 hours, and in complex cases, it can go on up to 3 months. Furthermore, the Delhi HC rightly noted that India has a backlog of 2.8 crore cases, and to clear the backlog one would approximately require more than 465 years. However, it is important to notice that in recent times the Supreme Court as well as the legislative have been inclined towards introducing mediation as a kind of preliminary mode of dispute resolution wherever so possible. The amendment of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 by Ordinance in May 2018 makes pre-institutional mediation compulsory for commercial disputes apart from the conventional Sec 89, the mediation process has seen a move forward towards promoting alternative dispute resolution mechanisms especially in the form of mediation.
Additionally, in the recent hearing of the Ayodhya Dispute, the five judges bench directed the parties to explore a court-appointed & court-monitored mediation to find out a permanent solution to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute{1}.
To conclude, we can say that the present time is lush and it is the need of the hour to encourage mediation as the mode of dispute resolution at the first before approaching any other form adjudication. It not just an efficient method of dispute resolution but it also helps in establishing a peaceful and collaborative society.
End-Notes:
{1} https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/ayodhya-babri-land-dispute-mediation-supreme-court-143401
- HIstory of mediation
- amendments made
- present scenario
