Mediation the best way to tackle pending cases: Justice Kaul

Supreme Court Judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul Friday urged lawyers and judges to encourage mediation over litigation to ensure speedy disposal of pending cases.

Delivering the key note address on the first day of the three-day state-level intensive mediation workshop, Justice Kaul underlined the importance of mediation and said that it was the best way to tackle pending cases.

The adversarial system could only decide who wins or loses a case, whereas mediation could get to the bottom of the dispute, resolve its genesis and bring about a holistic change of mind among the warring groups, he said.

The apex court judge recalled how a successful mediation between a leading brand of denim clothing and a local business establishment accused of infringing the trademark had led to the latter becoming a supplier for the international brand.

Judges must be trained to identify cases that could be settled through mediation, he said at the workshop organised by the Mediation and Conciliation Committee of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court and supported by state government at SKICC here.

He said the process of mediation was much superior to adjudicatory and required more professionalisation.

The training workshop will help the lawyers and the judges to imbibe the skills to be a good mediator," he said.

"In a dispute, mediation prompts the parties to come up with a solution unlike in litigation where the solution is imposed on them, he added.

Justice Kaul said many litigating lawyers in developed countries had completely switched over to mediation and he envisaged a similar change in India too, given the ever-increasing number of cases filed in courts of law.

Stressing on the need to encourage mediation at local level, he said the process was in its elementary stage at the district level and urged judges to ensure that it permeates to every nook and corner.

Speaking on the occasion, B B Vyas, Advisor to Jammu and Kashmir Governor, said it was the endeavour of the state government to take all necessary measures to assist the judicial system in delivery of cost and time effective justice to the people.

Vyas said the government had recently decided to amend the J-K Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1997 which enhances the scope of mediation and reconciliation to widen its scope in disposal of cases for speedy justice.