Telangana State Legal Services Authority conducts three-day program on Mediation for High Court judges

The Telangana State Legal Services Authority (TSLSA) conducted a three-day programme on the subject “Art of Mediation and Negotiation in Alternative Disputes Resolution Process, Concept and Techniques of Mediation” for Telangana High Court judges..The program was conducted under the aegis of the Supreme Court Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee on May 1 at the Kanha Shanti Vanam Meditation Centre in Chegur..Chief Justice of Telangana High Court Ujjal Bhuyan inaugurated the programme in the presence of former Supreme Court judge Justice L Nageswara Rao and Telangana High Court judge Justice P Naveen Rao.Chairman of the Singapore International Mediation Centre George Lim also in the programme virtually. .Additionally, the programme saw participation from other High Court judges, the Registrar General, all other registrars of the High Court, the TSLSA Member Secretary, and the Telangana State Judicial Academy Director. Further, all judicial officers in the State participated virtually..During the inaugural session, Chief Justice Bhuyan said that Mediation was one of the best alternative dispute resolution systems. He discussed a magazine from the 1970s magazine The Illustrated weekly of India which had an image of a woman carrying 17 bricks and smiling. This, he said, was the power of fun job."If we add few more bricks she might not smile, perhaps collapse. We need to understand that every system has a capacity to work, so we have to look at alternatives for providing access to justice and resolution of disputes. That is where mediation comes into picture. If we have a case in the court, it is a rights-based approach. If we go outside court, it is an interest-based approach. Unlike a court settlement, mediation provides a comprehensive settlement”, he said..Justice Nageswara Rao said that the illusion of judges working overtime to reduce pendency of more than ten lakh cases in Telangana's court ought not be nurtured. It was his opinion that the only solution was to implement alternate dispute resolution methods like mediation massively..Justice Naveen Rao, who is also the executive chairman of the TSLSA, shed light of the varying forms of mediation that have existed in India since time immemorial. In this regard, he pointed out the epic Mahabharata which illustrates an early attempt at mediation as a conflict resolution tool by Lord Krishna attempting to mediate between the Pandavas and Kauravas.He went on to discuss the Panchayat system wherein the village elders were appointed as mediators. With this, he underscored that an endeavour be made to reduce pendency through the mediation process. .George Lim also echoed these sentiments by stating that even billion-dollar disputes could be settled through mediation..Following the Inaugural Session, practitioners of Kanha Shanti Vanam Meditation Centre discussed meditation skills and the benefits of meditation. Delhi High Court Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, Master Trainers Veena Ralli and JP Sengh from the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre also shared mediation skills with the Telangana High Court Judges.