Kerala - Kochi   

Mediation for bringing harmony in society: Chief Justice

— Photo: Vipin Chandran

LEGAL LUMINARIES: Chief Justice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan, inaugurating a three-day mediation training programme for judicial officers and lawyers at the Kerala High Court on Saturday. High Court judge Kurian Joseph; Supreme Court judge S.B. Sinha; acting Chief Justice of the High Court J. B. Koshy; and Delh High Court judge Madan B. Loku, look on.

KOCHI: Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan on Saturday said that the ultimate aim of mediation was to bring about harmony in society. Inaugurating a three-day training programme in mediation for judicial officers and lawyers organised by the Supreme Court of India, High Court of Kerala, Kerala State Legal Services Authority and Kerala Judicial Academy, Justice Balakrishnan said the professionalised mediation was “working extremely well” in the U.S. and other countries.

The litigation was very cheaper in our country, compared to other countries. Therefore, people would like to fight it out before courts rather than settling them through the mediation. The Chief Justice said that the country needed more professionalised mediators. “We could not follow the American, English or Chinese mediation pattern. In China, 80 per cent of the cases were settled through mediation. And only 20 per cent were sent for trial. We wanted to conduct the mediation in a peaceful atmosphere and the parties should not be left with bad feelings that they lost the case,” he said.

He said that mediation training programmes would be held in other high courts soon.

He said that that the Apex Court was “struggling” to reduce the backlog of cases in various courts in the country. As many as 3.56 crore cases were pending in the country. He said that in the Kerala High Court the backlog was increased by 20 per cent this year while in the Supreme Court it went up by 23 per cent. He pointed out that that not a single additional court had been sanctioned for the last five year in the State. Normally it would take four to six years to dispose of cases in the present system. That shall not happen. That was why the Lok Adalats, evening courts and mediation had been introduced.

Acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court J.B. Koshy presided. Justice S.B. Sinha, Chairman, Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee of the Supreme Court delivered the key-note address. Delhi High Court Judge Justice Madan B. Lokur spoke. Justice Kurian Joseph, President, Kerala Judicial Academy welcomed the gathering and Justice P.R. Raman proposed a vote of thanks.

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