Auding the works done in the field of mediation in the State, Supreme Court Judge, Justice SA Bobde said ‘mediation really works’ was not in dispute any more. Speaking during a workshop on ‘Mediation: Shaping the Future of State litigation (An Initiative to Implement the State litigation Policy) organised by Jharkhand legal Services Authority and the Government of Jharkhand, Justice Bobde said it was important that a mediator should have a rapport of honesty and integrity and have lasting solution to the problems of litigants.
“Everyone is interested in the peace and harmony that follows mediation. It was believed that the government was outside the ambit of mediation, which has now been broken and it is heartwarming to see that the government itself is participating in mediation,” said Justice Bobde.
The SC Judge further said that he was delighted to see that wonderful work was being done in the field of mediation in Jharkhand under the guidance of Acting Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court Justice DN Patel.
“I have rarely seen such a positive response from the government towards the schemes put forward by the Judiciary. All I can say is Jharkhand is the best place to support the origin of intentions of Constitution,” said Justice Bobde. Mediation also has several advantages like sense of confidentiality is maintained here and has also been proved time-saving, he added.
Justice Bobde said that role of mediators was extraordinarily important as ultimate guarantee of Justice lies with the personality of the Judge hearing the matter. He however, accepted that a lot was still to be done in the field of mediation.
“I request the officers present here to look into it as you will be relieving the citizens from a huge sort of problems though mediation,” said the Supreme Court Judge.
Addressing the gathering of advocates, mediators and Government officials during the programme, Justice BR Gavai of Bombay HC was also of the view that the works done in Jharkhand by Justice Patel must be followed in the other HCs.
“I always had an impression that Jharkhand was a backward state, but I would say that the JHAlSA is much more forward that the other states and the pilot projects undertaken by it must be imitated by other states,” said Gavai. Jharkhand is the first State to adopt 10 mediators who were not advocates and came from different walks of life in the society, he added.
Justice Patel in his welcome speech said 5,567 matters related to different universities in the State were resolved at pre-litigation stage worth Rs 127 crore. He said that Government officers contributes to be 70 per cent of the litigants and hence of success of mediation depends on them.
“Court has a multi-door system...we will be minimizing it through mediation,” said Justice Patel. Compensation to the victims were also distributed among them under Victim Compensation Scheme 2016 (A Scheme framed by the State of Jharkhand under Section 357A of Cr PC) and to the victims under SC/ST (POA) Act 1989.