Kerala State Mediation And Conciliation Centre Launches NIRNAYA Scheme

During the Presidential address, Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque said that this is also an historic moment as Rajya Sabha has passed the Mediation Bill, 2021. He said that if the Lok Sabha also passes the Bill, this would revolutionize mediation process in the country. This will give enforceability to mediation settlement agreements in the civil courts similar to an arbitral award, Justice Mustaque remarked. “Being a judge, being a mediator, I realize certainly that court is not an appropriate forum to adjudicate many of the disputes and that is a realization for everyone,” he said.

Justice Mustaque elucidated this by citing an example of resolving a dispute in the construction industry and noted that it involves huge investments of money, numerous stakeholders, and numerous issues. He said that the regulatory system in place is not adequate to solve all complex problems faced by the builders, owners, investors, vendors, suppliers and the solution to solve their issues is mediation. He mentioned that that there are many other industries, including the film industry wherein parties are facing such issues and they do not have an adequate platform for addressing their grievances. Justice said,

“Court being a formal institution, Courts are governed by their own rules and procedures and they cannot go beyond certain things and they have their own limitations. This realization has led us to launch NIRNAYA, a project, a scheme to address the disputes other than Court annexed mediations.”

The NIRNAYA Scheme was inaugurated by Chief Justice Ashish J Desai, who is also the patron-in-chief of KSMCC. During the inaugural function, Chief Justice also launched the official website of NIRNAYA. Speaking at the inaugural function, the CJ said, “when we talk about the various advantages of mediation as an alternative method of dispute resolution, we can find that for the parties it includes reduction in stress, saving of time and cost and the achievement of satisfactory solution and also the maintenance of a continuance relationship. And for the society, the economical and the social benefits of alleviating conflicts and achieving harmony.”

CJ Desai further stated that NIRNAYA Scheme is a boon to the parties and litigants of the state to address their grievances. He concluded the inaugural address by quoting the words of Joseph Grynbaum, "an ounce of mediation is worth a pound of arbitration and a ton of litigation”.

Minister for Law, Industries and Coir, P Rajeev appeared online and delivered special address at the inaugural function. He mentioned that NIRNAYA Scheme will provide equal opportunity for everyone to seek access to justice. He referred to Law Commission reports and report of the Malimath Committee to state that mediation is a viable form of dispute resolution mechanism and it is obligatory on the part of the court to refer disputes to alternate dispute resolution methods such as mediation for settlement. The Minister said that through the NIRNAYA Scheme, KSMCC will make available to parties qualified trained human power for resolution of their disputes. He also stated that dispute resolution and mediation is not just confined to law, it also comes under new and wider academic disciplines such as peace studies, conflict management, justice studies etc.

As part of the inaugural function, Justice Amit Rawal and Justice Mary Joseph released two short films created by the advocates of High Court to sensitize mediation in the State. The short films uniquely presented the benefits of mediation, and conveys that conversations can lead to amicable dispute resolutions. Justice C S Dias presented memento to Advocate Praveen Hariharan for taking up the initiation in directing the short films.

This was followed by Felicitation address delivered by eminent dignitaries. Senior Advocate Sriram Panchu, speaking during the Felicitation, spoke about the perks of mediation and said that when parties settle in mediation, they always settle for more and not for less.

The inaugural session in the morning will be followed by panel discussions in the forenoon sessions on the following topics- Scope of Mediation in Construction Disputes, Mediation in Commercial Dispute, Role of Lawyers in Mediation Beyond Court Rooms and Online Dispute Resolution.