The Indian Mediation Week, supported by the Ministry of Law and Justice, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs and the Supreme Court Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee, in collaboration with the Lions Club International, hosted the 'International Conclave on Conflict Resolution' at West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, on Sunday.
The conclave aimed to equip participants with the basics of theoretical and practical aspects of Alternative Dispute Resolution procedures and served as the pre-launch event for the second edition of the Indian Mediation Week. The event saw participation from more than 1,200 participants.
The event was graced by the presence of Chief Guest Justice Soumen Sen of the Calcutta High Court, who spoke about the various kinds of conflicts pending in the courts and the necessity of Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanisms in resolving many of these disputes, like commercial and family disputes. He also gave the audience instances of complex legal disputes that were avoided due to mediation.
The keynote address for the program was delivered by Lok Sabha member Varun Gandhi. The overarching theme of the speech was ‘India’s journey into the post-modern era’ which included insights into innovative solutions to deal with grass-root level inequality that affects the nation till date. The speech was followed by a question and answer session that was based on a wide range of issues like inequality, diversity, disinvestment in India etc.
The speakers for the sessions were experts in the field of arbitration, mediation, legal aid, etc. Eminent jurists, lawyers, diplomats, academicians and social activists included Mr. Moloy Ghatak, Law Minister, Retd. Justice Chandrasekhar, Mr. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya (former Advocate General of Tripura), Mr. Utpal Chatterjee (distinguished journalist), Mr. Jishnu Choudhary (Addl. Government Pleader), Mr. Ajoy Gupta, Member Secretary, State Legal Services Authority, WB, Mr. Avik Ghatak, In Junior Panel, Calcutta HC, Mr. Ritzu Ghoshal, Senior Lawyer, Calcutta HC, Mr. Manik Chakraborty, Director, Amity University, among other notable speakers. The themes of the conference were centered around international disputes and resolution, national disputes and resolution, gender based conflicts and resolution, conflicts with regard to personal laws, cyber crime and resolution, conflicts due to press and the media, conflicts with regard to companies, corporations and resolutions, arbitration, mediation, online mediation, legal aid, Lok Adalat and Para Legal Scheme.
The conclave also witnessed the felicitation of Akshetha Ashok who received the ‘Best Law Student Award’ from Mr. Varun Gandhi and the awards in the ‘Star Student’ category were won by Dhubhrojyoti Bose and Anushka Mitra.