Samadhan; rapid way to justice

New Delhi, Nov 15 (UNI) With an aim to provide rapid justice through out-of-court solutions, 'Samadhan' a mediation centre set up by the Delhi High Court in 2006 is all set to offer an alternate dispute resolution to litigants.

The Mediation and conciliation center, Samadhan, is a joint initiative of the judges and lawyers of the Delhi High Court. It is run by the Bar Association of the Delhi High Court and coordinated by an organising secretary. A panel of judges and advocates oversee the work of the secretary.

''As many people were opting for out-of-court settlements and there is already huge backlog of work, the courts themselves were encouraging and supporting the mediation process,'' former president of Delhi High Court Bar Association A S Chandiok said.

Cases relating to business contracts, transactions, real estate, construction, consumer cases, employment and service issues, industrial disputes, banking, insurance, trademark, copyright disputes, accident-related claims, landlord-tenant disputes, partnership, family and matrimonial disputes, child custody and other family matters are all taken up in this centre.

''Public sector undertakings and government departments institutions are also taking up this method to solve their disputes as it saves cost on what usually becomes prolonged litigation,'' senior advocate of Delhi High Court Virendra Sood said.

Training is imparted to the mediators and highly qualified mediators are assigned the job by Delhi High Courts, its subordinate courts and the Supreme Court.

Mediation services can be availed by the parties directly or through reference by the court.

It is voluntary and willing parties can opt for conciliation at any point of time which saves time and money of both the parties.

Earlier, the trend to approach the mediation centre was low but this year the number had risen to four times, Mr Sood said.

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