Mediation can transform discord into dialogue: CJI

Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day National Mediation Conference in Bhubaneswar last evening, the CJI said when approached constructively, mediation could become an opportunity for growth and understanding.

“I would like to say that it is not the mere existence of a quarrel or disagreement that disturbs our peace, but the refusal to listen, empathise and make a genuine effort to resolve it. Conflict, when approached constructively, can become an opportunity for growth and understanding,” the CJI said.

Noting that the practice of mediation continued in different societies for ages, the CJI said it got recognition through the enactment of The Mediation Act, 2023.

The Act ensures justice that is participatory, equitable and accessible, while also helping reduce the ever-growing pendency of cases before courts, Justice Gavai said.

Justice Surya Kant, who is to succeed Justice Gavai as the next CJI in November, said mediation “subtracts bitterness, divides burdens and adds hope to the broken equations of human relationships”.

He said, “Our elders once gathered beneath the banyan tree to resolve disputes in pursuit of restored harmony. The Mediation Act of 2023 carries that spirit into our time.”

“If trials deliver verdicts, mediation delivers futures, and the true measure of justice will lie not in cases decided, but in the peace it creates,” said Justice Kant, who is also the chairperson of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.