Ex-judges to act as mediators in allottee-builder disputes in Haryana
Pradeep Sharma
Chandigarh, July 16
To provide an alternative institutional dispute redressal system, the Haryana Government is set to rope in retired judges, government officers and other experts as mediators to settle disputes between builders and allottees.
To be appointed under the Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (HARERA) Gurugram (Constitution of Mediation and Dispute Resolution Forum) Regulations, 2024, the mediators have been mandated to “facilitate amicable mediation of disputes through dispute settlement forums”. They will mostly mediate on the dispute at the pre-litigation stages before the dispute reaches HARERA for adjudication though the authority can also refer the pending cases to them.
Among the persons eligible to be appointed as the mediators are retired District and Sessions Judges/Additional District and Sessions Judges, legal practitioners with at least five years’ standing at the Bar in the Supreme Court or seven years in the high court or 10 years in the district court, experts or other professionals in the field of real estate with at least 15 years’ standing, retired officers of the Central Government at the level of Joint Secretary or Principal Secretary in the state government and trained mediators.
The mediator will be appointed for an initial period of one year which can be extended on yearly basis till the age of 70 years. They can be disqualified on the charges of unethical conduct.
“At the time of filing of complaint, the complainant may file an application to opt for mediation before adjudication by HARERA,” a government order said, adding that the authority might at any time refer a matter for mediation in case it was so decided in the interest of expeditious disposal of the matter.
“The mediator shall attempt to facilitate voluntary resolution of the disputes by the parties and communicate the view of each party to the other, assist them in identifying issues, reducing misunderstandings, clarifying priorities, exploring areas of compromise and generating options in an attempt to solve the disputes. It is the responsibility of the parties to take decision which affect them and the mediator shall not impose any terms of settlement on the parties,” the order asserted.
The order said the oral or documentary information received by mediator during the mediation process would be confidential and the mediator would not share it with anyone. Similarly, the proposals or admissions made by any party during the mediation would be treated a confidential.
Setting the deadline for the mediation process, the order said the mediator shall endeavour to conclude the process within 60 days.
Can be disqualified for unethical conduct
- Mediators to help settle disputes at pre-litigation stage
- To be appointed for an initial period of one year
- Unethical conduct to be ground for disqualification
- Confidentiality of information shared by parties to be ensured
- Disputes to be preferably settled within 60 days
