Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Mediation can help cut costs, clear court backlog

Staff Reporter

Chief Justice opens alternative disputes resolution society in city

BOOK RELEASE: Chief Justice A.P. Shah releasing the book "Know Thy Contract" on Monday. — PHOTO: S.R. Raghunathan

CHENNAI : Several years ago, a Mumbai court heard the case of an estranged couple fighting over who should bear the costs of treating their daughter suffering from blood cancer. The judge awarded a settlement that satisfied neither party. It was community mediation that reunited the couple within a week.

In another case, 2,000 laid-off workers and their families struggled to get compensation from a bankrupt company for over a decade. The mediation of two lawyers brought about a compromise.

"Such miracles are not possible through litigation, but only through ADR [alternative dispute resolution]," A.P. Shah, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court said as he inaugurated the Society for Alternative Dispute Resolutions (SOFADS) in the city on Monday. He pointed to Gandhiji as the lawyer who showed the way by using mediation to resolve disputes. "Winning in the Gandhian sense involves transformation of relationships. It's never a matter of conquest," he said.

ADR also cuts costs and clears court dockets. There are three crore cases pending in Indian courts. SOFADS aims at reducing the burden on the judicial system and help citizens, especially the poor, get quick justice. It will arrange for ADR to be provided either free or at nominal rates, and organise awareness, research and training programmes. This will help achieve President A.P.J Abdul Kalam's vision of a "conflict-free society", said SOFAD patron T.R. Rajagopalan.

ADR must go beyond being a topic of discussion to offering a helping hand to the masses, said T.V. Ramanujun, president of the Madras Bar Association. Seven districts in the state now have mediators and Justice Shah's aim is to have a mediation centre in all districts next year.

Vital to the success of ADR were "competence and unimpeachable integrity", said Sriram Panchu, organising secretary of the Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre. D Saravanan of the Council for National and International Commercial Arbitration agreed, saying that regulation is needed to ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency.

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