Justice Surya Kant of the Supreme Court of India on Saturday said the true measure of justice lies not in verdicts delivered by courts but in the peace created when disputes are resolved through dialogue.

“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,” Justice Kant said.

He explained that while courts provide legal answers, they often leave unresolved the deeper current of human conflict. Mediation, he said, expands the frame of justice beyond win–lose outcomes and offers solutions that endure.

“Mediation reaches where the law cannot. Into the hearts and relationships that lie beneath the dispute. The Mediation Act has given us a framework worthy of competence. Yet legislation, however, entitled it may be, cannot by itself change culture. It cannot create trust. It cannot nurture dialogue. That responsibility rests with us,” he said.

Justice Kant used a mathematical metaphor to illustrate how dialogue unlocks possibilities that courtrooms cannot.

“In conventional courtrooms the outcome is often confined to a narrow frame. One side prevails, the other must concede. Mediation by contrast, expands that frame. Some equations admit no solution. Some yield only one. But the most remarkable are those with infinite solutions. Disputes are also the same. Some close every door. Others allow only a single outcome. But when dialogue begins, conflicts open into many possibilities. And mediation empowers parties to find the solution they can both embrace,” he said.

Justice Kant was speaking alongside CJI BR Gavai at the 2nd National Mediation Conference held at Bhubaneswar. The event was organised and hosted by the Advocate General of Odisha.

Attorney General of India R Venkataramani, who also addressed the gathering, supported Justice Kant’s call for change. He said mediation deserved the same attention that arbitration once received and must be developed into a full-fledged, self-reliant practice.

“When it comes to arbitration we talk about party autonomy and least judicial intervention. The assisted participation under mediation must now receive as much attention as given in the past to the adversarial system. We also need to move towards a self-reliant mediation practice as good as arbitration, or even a shade better,” he said.

Advocate General of Odisha Pitambar Acharya read out a message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said India’s culture of mediation strengthened access to justice while preserving local harmony. In his own remarks, Acharya stressed that quick, affordable settlements were central to easing the burden on courts and ensuring timely justice for citizens.

“Mediation provides quick affordable settlements easing judicial burden and ensuring timely justice. Justice is at the core of building a fair, inclusive and self-reliant nation. India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat by 2047 needs ease of justice to be felt by every citizen. The importance of mediation acquires a crucial place in this endeavour,” he said

Justice Kant, meanwhile, reminded the profession that mediation was part of India’s traditions, recalling how communities once gathered beneath banyan trees to restore harmony. He said the legal fraternity was rediscovering its role.

“These are signs of a profession rediscovering its calling not only to argue, but to resolve, not only to interpret the law, but to restore faith in it,” he said.

Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court Harish Tandon added that mediation was distinguished from other processes because it allowed parties to own both the process and the outcome.

“What distinguishes mediation is that the outcome is not dictated by the mediator. It is crafted and agreed upon solely by the parties themselves. It preserves not only relationships but empowers individuals by giving them a genuine ownership of both the process and its outcome,” he said.

The event was also attended by the Governer and Chief Minister of Odisha.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said the Mediation Act would succeed only if citizens were freed from the daily hassles of litigation and could resolve disputes at their own level.

“There are many litigations that can be solved easily. To free the common man from the hassles of litigation the Prime Minister enacted the Mediation Act 2023,” he said.

Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati called mediation an indispensable instrument in the pursuit of social cohesion, but said vulnerable groups must be protected to ensure the process remained fair.

“It is essential to ensure that vulnerable sections of the society are protected from unfairness or undue influence while negotiating under mediation so that the process remains truly just, inclusive and equitable,” the Governor said.

Justice Kant closed his speech by invoking a verse from the Rig Veda to show that mediation was not an imported idea but part of India’s cultural inheritance.

“A Rig Veda shloka beautifully says, move together, speak together, let your minds be in harmony. These timeless words find perfect resonance in the blessed soil of Kalinga, where they speak directly to mediation’s essence, turning disputes into dialogue and dialogue into peace,” he said.

The inaugural session was followed by a cultural event attended by all the dignitaries.

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