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Murmu also said that people who mediated family or land disputes in the village are socially empowered, but they lack legal empowerment.
New Delhi: President Draupadi Murmu on Saturday strongly advocated expanding the dispute resolution system to rural areas, so that panchayats could be legally empowered to resolve and arbitrate disputes in villages. He said that social harmony in villages is an essential condition to strengthen the nation. Murmu also said that people who mediated family or land disputes in the village are socially empowered, but they lack legal empowerment, due to which such cases do not solve at the village level.
Need a system where disputes are settled at village level
Addressing the first conference on arbitration here, he said that during the resolution of disputes, the affected parties know that the mediators lack legal powers, so they do not agree with the decisions. The President said that there is a need to create a system where disputes at the village level are settled there and the atmosphere does not deteriorate and people are in harmony with harmony. Many times the disputes increase. He insisted that many small issues can be resolved at the ground level itself. Chief Justice of India Sanjeev Khanna, nominated Chief Justice BR Gawai and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal were also present at the event.
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The President said- an essential part of providing mediation justice
Murmu said that perhaps it may not be due to any lapse or lack of time that the judicial system from village to Supreme Court has not been established. He said that there was a system of mediation in the villages. But now people have become educated, so they know that the mediators have no power. Murmu said that the Arbitration Act, 2023 is the first step towards strengthening the civilian heritage. He insisted that now we need to add speed and strengthen its practice. The President said that mediation is an essential part of providing justice, which is at the center of the Constitution of India.
He said that arbitration can accelerate not only in the specific case under consideration, but also in other cases by reducing the burden on the courts of a large number of cases. This can make the overall judicial system more efficient and open the paths of development that may have been blocked. It can increase both ease of doing business and ease of living life. He underlined, “When we look at it in this way, mediation becomes an important means to realize the vision of India developed until 2047.
The attempt of the panchayat was a pillar of social harmony
Murmu said that India has a long and rich tradition of judicial system in which agreement outside the court was more than exceptions. The Panchayat’s organization is famous for promoting a cordial solution. The attempt of the panchayat was not only to resolve the dispute, but also to remove any kind of bitterness between the parties. It was a pillar of social harmony for us. Unfortunately, the colonial rulers ignored this exemplary heritage when they implemented a foreign legal system to us. Although the new system provided arbitration and solution outside the court, and the old tradition of alternative mechanisms continued, there was no institutional structure for it.
Arbitration is not only an improvement, but a collective responsibility: Meghwal
Murmu said that the Arbitration Act, 2023 removes the flaw and there are many provisions that will lay the foundation of a vibrant and effective arbitration ecosystem in India, underlined. The President realized that people should see effective dispute and conflict solution not only as a legal requirement but as a social imperative. In his address, Meghwal said that arbitration is not just an improvement, but a collective responsibility and insisted that “more arbitration, low litigation” should be the main mantra.
The minister reminded the listeners that Angad in the Ramayana and Lord Krishna in the Mahabharata played the role of mediator and said that mediation is inherent in Indian culture. CJI Khanna also launched the Indian Arbitration Association, about which Attorney General R Venkatarmani said earlier this week that it would serve as a catalyst in the construction of the Indian Secondary Council proposed under the Secondaryity Act of 2023.
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