The Hindu

Mangalore, Feb 9: A decade-old case of a property dispute between a brother and a sister was settled in 45 minutes through mediation in the court hall of Principal District and Sessions Judge here on Friday. The court hall was brimming with lawyers, judges and people who gathered there to witness the demonstration of mediation. The mediator B. Nandagopal, advocate from Bangalore, announced that the case was settled. Although the case was conceived for the purpose of demonstration, the proceedings had the trappings of a regular process, with two litigants arguing against each other in front of the mediator, consultations by the mediator with the parties and the settlement.

Four advocates from Bangalore Ashok Patil, Vishwanath, Sumana Hegde and Swarna Prabhakar took part in the demonstration. K.L. Manjunath, judge, High Court of Karnataka, witnessed it. Mr. Manjunath said that Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure was amended, making it mandatory for the courts to refer matters of settlement to one of the alternative dispute resolution systems such as conciliation, mediation and Lok Adalat.

To a query from Aruna, lawyer, Mr. Manjunath said, “Experience makes a person perfect and that makes the difference.”

The judge said that fresh law graduates chosen as judges had to undergo rigorous training for one year. Once the litigation is settled, the litigants have to fill up a form in which they could write about the conduct of the mediator. This would be kept confidential but referred to a Board of Governors which monitors mediation.