With an aim to cut down the pendency of cases, especially commercial ones, the Ministry of Law and Justice along with the Attorney General of India is holding a conference-- Mediation Association of India (MAI) on May 3 in Delhi.
The program will be inaugurated by President of India Draupadi Murmu. Judges from various high courts, Advocate Generals from various states and MNCs will be attending the conference.
Conceived by the Attorney General for India, MAI was no ordinary initiative—it was a bold vision to transform conflict resolution across the nation, weaving mediation into the fabric of society.
"To fight pendency, mediation is the need of the hour, so that's why the idea of this conference came so that we can lay down a roadmap for the future. Our whole initiative is to make India a global leader in terms of mediation as well," Attorney General R. Venkatramani said.
India's top law officer along with Law Secretary Anju Rathi Rana, who is the first woman to be appointed to this position said, "Mediation is not just an alternative, but the cornerstone of dispute resolution."
"The idea came that we will have a mediation association of India which will bring together a large number of arbitration and mediation institutions in our country and provide a platform where we can then start working together on a number of issues which are important for mediation to take to carry it forward," Attorney General added.
On the question of the central government being the biggest litigator in Indian courts, the Attorney General said, "We will discuss all this during the conference and soon we will have a separate conference on corporates as well so that we can understand their issues and needs and work on those lines."
Explaining the details about the absence of the Mediation Council so far, the Attorney General said, "We are working on modalities with the Ministry of Law and Justice. We don't want any person there who has their own commercial interest while being in council. We have to be very very cautious. That's why it's taking time."
