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While delivering a valedictory address on Saturday, Supreme Court Judge Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah said that for mediation to become a widely adopted practice in the country, there must be a change in mindset and that confidence must be built among the public at the grassroots level.
Justice Amanullah was addressing the gathering at valedictory session of the two-day National Conference and Symposium organised by the Bar Council of India (BCI) and the BCI Trust at the India International University of Legal Education and Research (IIULER), Goa. Justice Amanullah observed that people often conflate mediation and arbitration, though the two are fundamentally different. A mediator, he said, cannot function with the mindset of an arbitrator, IIULER stated in a press release. He emphasised that a successful resolution of a dispute through the mediation process gives immense satisfaction to the mediator. People want to resolve disputes through mediation, as no one wishes for litigation or adversarial court processes to be carried forward across generations merely to conclude, he added. Justice Amanullah stressed that there should be no overlapping between mediation and the normal judicial system; the two should function in parallel. Confidence must be built at the grassroots level that mediation serves not only the interests of the parties involved but also the national interest, press release said. He lauded initiatives such as organising mediation seminars at IIULER, noting that over 11 hours of fruitful deliberations took place through panel discussions, policy roundtables, training programmes, and technical sessions. He acknowledged that, while there are hurdles, expanding the scope of mediation should not wait for ideal conditions. Speaking at the valedictory session, another Supreme Court Judge, Justice N. Kotishwar Singh, said that long before courts, statutes, and even the word "mediation" entered the legal vocabulary, India resolved disputes through conversation, conscience, and community. He noted that this valedictory moment affirmed that justice in India is strongest when it pursues reconciliation without declaring a winner or a loser. Mediation, he said, is not a concept being newly adopted, but wisdom being reclaimed. While emphasising the significance of mediation, Justice Kotishwar referred to the saying the Lord Buddha, " a conflict can't be resolved through another conflict, but through humility." Presenting the conference report, Bar Council of India Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra stated that over the two days, the conference attended by the Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant, Chief Minister of Goa, Dr. Pramod Sawant, six other Supreme Court judges, several High Court judges, academicians, lawyers, and law students effectively addressed the core aspects of mediation and conveyed a clear national message on its growing significance in the present-day context, press release said. (ANI)
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