Supreme Court Dismisses PIL Seeking Mandatory Pre-Litigation Mediation

The Supreme Court on Monday(August 14) dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that sought for directions for mandatory pre-litigation mediation in certain matters such commercial cases, partition suits, probation petitions. The PIL had also sought for guidelines or a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to give effect to pre-litigation mediation. The Court observed that provisions for pre-litigation conciliation and settlement already exist under the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987. The Commercial Courts Act 2015 also provides for pre-institution mediation and settlement and hence there was no requirement for the reliefs sought for to be entertained by the Court.

The Court also noted that the Mediation Bill, 2023 which pertains to the issue addressed in the PIL has already been passed by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The Court also observed that some reliefs in the PIL were in the legislative domain and did not warrant invoking the Court's writ jurisdiction.

The bench comprising of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra while dismissing the PIL observed:

“Provisions for pre-litigation conciliation and settlement are contained in Chapter VIA of the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987. Chapter IIIA of the Commercial Courts Act 2015 which incorporates Section 12A provides for pre-institution mediation and settlement. That apart, the attention of the Court has been drawn to the fact that the Mediation Bill 2023 was passed on 1 August 2023 by the Rajya Sabha and 7 August 2023 by the Lok Sabha.

In this backdrop, it is not necessary for this Court to entertain the petition under Article 32 since, in any event, many of the reliefs which have been sought essentially pertain to the legislative domain.” 

Case Title: Youth Bar Association of India V. Union Of India, Writ Petition(Civil) No.849/2020

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw(SC)653

Click here to read/download order