Justice Beyond Courtroom - Revitalizing Mediation In India

Author: LawSphereX

Category: Arbitration & ADR

Published: 2026-08-23T20:27:02.391578+00:00

Updated: 2026-08-26T17:10:50.98+00:00

JUSTICE BEYOND COURTROOM: REVITALIZING

MEDIATION IN INDIA

Renganathan, Sastra Deemed University Manikanda Guru S, Sastra Deemed University Rithik Raj S, Sastra Deemed University, Sastra Deemed University

ABSTRACT

This article primarily focuses on mediation, which is part of ADR, and the concept of ADR is not new to India. It was there from ancient history. Mediation is a very complex area of the legal field in the current era, and the study of mediation is crucial in the Indian legal system. As the population of India has crossed above 140cr, the normal courts cannot provide justice and solutions to all disputes. We need an alternate mechanism, which is ADR. Since the solutions are given very quickly, there are a lot of challenges in the mediation process and working mechanism. We have suggested a possible solution to reduce the hindrance of the mediation law. Mediation was not applicable in all cases. The applicability of the mediation law is studied under the Mediation Act of 2023. Keywords: Mediation, challenges, solution, application.

INTRODUCTION:

In today’s legal scenario in India, around 50 million cases are pending in all the civil and criminal courts, and we have various courts like the Supreme Court, High Court, Session Court, etc. In numbers, we see one supreme court, 25 high courts and 688 dist courts. The pending ratio to the courts was very high, so we need some other mechanism to provide speedy justice. And justice delayed is justice denied, and this alternative dispute mechanism is one of the best sources to reduce the dependency on courts. Under the ADR, we have three main ways to solve the dispute other than the court: mediation, conciliation, and arbitration. In India, the practice of mediation is not new; it has been there since ancient history, starting from Mahabharata. Lord Krishna served as the mediator between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, and India has mediation in all of India's societies.

For example, in the olden days, if there was any problem in the village, the local panchayat will be there they would resolve the dispute with no formal complaints will be entertained. We have enacted various legal regulations to formalise the old dispute resolution practice. When we analysed the travel practices of mediation, we came to the conclusion that the old form of dispute resolution practice has been formalised. In today’s situation, we have a lot of enactments regarding mediation. In the initial phase, the mediation was regulated by the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947, and now. It is in Section 89 of CPC. This was inserted In the Civil Procedure Code 46th Amendment Act 1999.

REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

In today’s situation, we have many enactments regarding mediation. In the initial phase, mediation was regulated by the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947; now, it is in section 89 of the CPC, which was inserted in the Code of Civil Procedure Code Amendment Act 1999. India is also part of the United Nations. The United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, often known as the Singapore Mediation Convention, has been adopted by India. So, the mediation is also applicable universally. We have recently introduced the Mediation Act 2023, which will provide all the details about the mediation law. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act replaced this act, which was assented to by the president on September 14, 2023. This act mainly focuses on promoting and

facilitating mediation, especially institutional mediation for dispute resolution or otherwise, and this act also encourages community mediation and makes mediation online at an acceptable cost.

APPLICABILITY AND WORKING MECHANISM OF MEDIATION

The applicability of mediation was dealt with under section 2 of the Mediation Act 2023. This section says that it shall apply to the whole territory of India, where all the parties are in India or have incorporated their business in India, and all the dispute resolution will be happening through the provision of this act. This section clearly says that this act won’t be applicable outside the territory of India. We have section 6 of the act, which speaks about the areas excluded from the mediation act's application. It includes the offences which are there in Schedule 1 of the act, like disputes related to child custody, commercial contract disputes and related offences that are not dealt with by the mediation, and the central government also has the power to amend the offences which are dealt under the schedule 1 of the act.

This section does not prevent the power of the court to refer the compoundable offences like matrimonial offences, which are pending in the mediation. The working process of the mediation law was simple and easy to understand. It is in four simple steps:

1. Appointment of the mediator

2. The mediator shall not act partially; they should act independently

3. The mediation process should be completed before 120 days

4. The mediation process shall be very much confidential, and no camera proceedings

These are the simple steps that are followed when both parties agree to mediation and after the court referral. Challenges of Meditation There are many challenges in the field of mediation, and many people are unaware of the

mediation process, so the importance of mediation is not being expressed to the general public. There are challenges some challenges

1) Lack of awareness:

a) The general public is not aware of the benefits of mediation: The general public is unaware of the mediation. They are not guided by their lawyer for mediation, and they depend on the cultural process, which is the litigation process, so the mediation process is unrecognised by the public. So, the public does not utilise the benefits of mediation during the mediation process. It will lessen the fees given to the advocate and reduce the court fees for the case because it is done outside the court proceedings. The information said by the parties will be very confidential compared to court hall proceedings because mediation is done in a private room, where recording or video is not allowed. The mediator will only be there so the parties can convey the information without fear.

b) People are more likely to choose traditional litigation over mediation: People are mostly used to litigation because of the lack of awareness about the mediation process, and the benefits of mediation do not guide people who are not well-educated. They know only about litigation, so they depend on the cultural litigation process. The mediation process is one of the underrated benefits that the general public has, and the lack of awareness makes it an underrated process. As compared to litigation, mediation is private because litigation is done in a court hall, where the information is shared in public, but mediation is private, where it is done in a private room, which is very confidential.

2) Reluctance by lawyers:

Lawyers are not initiating the mediation process for their clients because they believe that their income will be curtailed through it, so they are not encouraging their clients to know about it. Litigation is a way of income for lawyers, so mediation is hidden from the general public. The unawareness of the mediation starts from this stage, and the lawyer's Reluctance will affect the mediation process, which is to be for the general public.

3) Lack of infrastructure:

It's been 27 years since the passing of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996, and there are not enough ADR centres in India. The main reason is the lack of funding for dispute settlements. So, for the purpose of ADR, people travel from one place to another for the mediation process. So, people are not willing to go to mediation, and this process has not been encouraged. In small cities and towns, ADR aims to solve people's problems, but the infrastructure defeats the purpose. This is the most important hindrance affecting the growth of ADR. There are many challenges, which were also dealt with in the case of Salem Bar Association of TN vs.

Union of India, which particularly speaks about the 46th amendment of the CPC, which was rooted to insert section 89 of CPC and under this case, court observed that since it helps to reduce the burden of the court, it like to have more challenges so the committee should be formed and to be addressed this issue in light of this judgement from the court we shall infer that the court itself admitting that there are some challenges in section 89. In the similar case of Afcons Infrastructure and Ltd and Others vs. Cherian Varkey Constriction Company, the court held that mediation is only possible when both parties give consent or agree to accept it. 1 Solution for the hindrance in the growth of ADR

1. Building infrastructure:

Due to the unavailability of the ADR centres, people are not accessible to the mediation process. Therefore, ADR centres should be built in every district of the state so that people may benefit from them and many people will also approach ADR. So as a request the government can build a ADR tribunals in each and every districts.

2. Creating awareness in the society:

The Government may conduct an awareness program on the ADR methodology and educate people about the ADR process and how it works in the field of law. Many people don't know that there is a process in court proceedings, so people should be aware of the mediation process

12010 INSC 431

and use it so that the beneficiary can use alternate dispute resolution.

3. Regulation of fee for ADR:

People who know about the mediation process are mostly afraid of the fees for ADR. They think that the fees for ADR will be expensive, and sometimes, for middle-class people, the fees seem to be high, so people are not willing to get the benefit through the mediation process, so the hindrance occurs. So, there should be regulation of the fees for ADR, though it would allow each and every individual to access the process.

4. Proper training programs for legal professionals:

The government should arrange training programs for legal professionals about Alternate dispute resolution, how it works, how the legal professionals should give the solution if they become the mediator, and what the mediator should follow while in the mediation process. Legal professionals should be well trained because people who have left court proceedings come to ADR centres to solve their problems. Hence, the solution that the mediator gives is very important for the solution takes both the parties and further action. So the mediators are in the important position of giving the solution, so it should be given properly. These are all the challenges and solutions for Alternative Dispute resolution. Through the mediation process, each individual should benefit because it's the right of every person to use the ADR process.

This hindrance prevents people from benefiting, so the solutions mentioned above should dissolve these hindrances. Conclusion: India has been struggling to clear the cases, and the number of pending cases was increasing daily, so there was a necessity for an alternative mechanism, so ADR was introduced, which was deeply rooted in Indian history itself. Formalising the mediation through an Act was a significant step to curb or reduce the pendency of the case, but still, there are a lot of challenges are there in the regulation of mediation; the solution we suggested is very clear in reducing the challenges of mediation we conclude the article by saying there might a need of reform which will help to address the challenges of the mediation which in the famous case the court itself admitted that there is a problem in section 89 for which the committee also formed.

So this article will help understand mediation law in India.