New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday made a strong pitch to extend the dispute resolution mechanism to rural areas so that the Panchayats are legally empowered to mediate and resolve the conflicts in villages.
She said social harmony in villages is an essential prerequisite of making the nation strong.
Murmu also said that while people who mediate in family or land disputes in village are socially empowered, they lack legal empowerment which leads to such cases failing to get settle at the village level itself.
Addressing the first conference on mediation here, she said during resolution of disputes, affected parties know that the mediators lack delegation of legal powers, therefore, they do not agree with the decisions.
The president said there was a need to create a mechanism where disputes at village level are settled there only and the atmosphere is not vitiated and people live in harmony.
At times the disputes spiral out. Several small issues can be resolved at the grassroots level itself, she asserted.
Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, CJI-designate B R Gavai and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal were also present at the event.
Murmu said it could perhaps be due to an oversight or lack of time that a judicial system from the village to the Supreme Court has not been established.
She said the mediation system did exist in the villages. But since people are educated now, they know that the mediators lack any power.
Murmu said the Mediation Act, 2023 was the first step in consolidating the civilisational legacy. Now we need to add momentum to it and strengthen its practice, she stressed.
The president said that mediation is an essential part of the delivery of justice, which is at the heart of the Constitution of India.
Mediation can speed up the delivery of justice not only in the specific case under consideration, but also in other cases, by reducing the burden on courts of a large number of litigations, she noted.
It can make the overall judicial system much more efficient and can open up the developmental pathways that might have been blocked up.
It can enhance both the ease of doing business and the ease of living. “Mediation, when we see it this way, becomes a key instrument to realise the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047,” she underlined.
Murmu noted that India has a long and rich tradition of judicial mechanisms in which out-of-court settlements were more of a norm than exception. The institution of Panchayat is legendary for fostering amicable resolutions. The Panchayat’s endeavour was not only to resolve the dispute but also to remove any bitterness among the parties about it.
“It was a pillar of social harmony for us. Unfortunately, the colonial rulers ignored this exemplary legacy when they imposed an alien legal system on us. While the new system did have a provision for mediation and out-of-court resolution, and the old tradition of alternative mechanisms did continue, there was no institutional framework for it,” Murmu lamented.
The Mediation Act, 2023 plugs that loophole and has a number of provisions that will form the foundation of a vibrant and effective mediation ecosystem in India, she underlined.
The president felt that people should see effective dispute and conflict resolution as not merely a legal necessity but a societal imperative.
In his address, Meghwal said mediation is not merely a reform but a collective responsibility and asserted that “more mediate, less litigate” should be the key mantra.
The minister reminded the audience that Angad in Ramayana and Lord Krishna in Mahaabharata played the role of mediators and said mediation is embedded in the Indian culture.
CJI Khanna also launched the Mediation Association of India, which Attorney General R Venkataramani had earlier this week said would work as a catalyst in the creation of the proposed Mediation Council of Indi as mandated in the Mediation Act of 2023.
