The Law and Justice Ministry has constituted a working committee for the drafting of rules and standards for mediation in India under the chairmanship of former Law Secretary PK Malhotra.
The office memorandum issued in this regard by the Department of Legal Affairs of Law Ministry stated that the committee would provide drafts of the rules and regulations as envisaged under the Mediation Bill/Act and also to provide suggestions regarding the setting of various standards including, certifications, accreditation, grading, criteria etc, for various stakeholders under the Mediation Bill.
The memorandum also stated that the committee would suggest a comprehensive way forward for the online conduct of mediation as per subordinate legislation and related matters such as secure platform, etc and also provide a roadmap regarding the implementation of the provisions of the Mediation Bill/Act.
The committee would also provide a method for the active dissemination of the benefits of the provisions of the Mediation Bill/Act and give wide publicity to the said provisions amongst the stakeholders and the citizens.
The newly formed Committee will be headed by former Law Secretary, (Chairperson) P. K. Malhotra, IG Research, BPRD (Member) Tejinder Singh Luthra IPS, Representative nominated by Mediation & Conciliation Project Committee, (MCPC) Supreme Court (member), Sriram Panchu, Senior Advocate and Mediator (Member), J.P. Sengh, Senior Advocate, Delhi High Court and Mediator (Member), Dr Rajiv Mani, Additional Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs (Member), Member Secretary, NALSA (Member), Laila Ollapally (CAMP) Founder, CAMP Centre for Arbitration & Mediation Practice (Member), Gayathri B Kalia - Executive Director, CAMP member and Convener, Representative nominated by the Department of Panchayati Raj - Member, Representative from the International Mediation Institute, Hague- Member, Haimanti Bhattacharya, Director, Department of Legal Affairs - (Member), Avnit Singh Arora, Director, Department of Legal Affairs - Member and Co-convenor.
The committee is further directed to refer to the subject mentioned and to say that the Mediation Bill, 2021 through its objectives, promotes institutional mediation provides for enforcement of a mediated settlement agreement, promotes training through Mediation Institutes and emphasizes ODR [Online Dispute Resolution] and community mediation. The Bill also provides for the establishment of the Mediation Council of India, said Centre communication to Committee members.
The Mediation Bill, 2021 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on December 20, 2022. Subsequently, the Bill was referred to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee (DRPSC) on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice. The Committee had presented its 117th report on the Mediation Bill, 2021 to the Chairman of Rajya Sabha on July 13, 2022 which is under active consideration.
( With inputs from ANI )
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