The High Court of Delhi has notified Samadhan Online Mediation Project approved by the Court for holding mediation session through video conferencing till such time the regular functioning of the Mediation Centre is resumed.
The Samadhan On-Line Mediation Project has been created to provide Mediation Services through CISCO WEBEX by holding sessions through Video Conferencing both in pending cases as well as in fresh cases to be referred by the High Court or to be filed by the parties for pre-litigation mediation / conciliation and help resolve disputes between the parties without their physical presence at the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre.
As per the data maintained by the Centre there are 856 pending cases. Hence the proposed step wise method to provide On-Line Mediation has been created strictly in accordance with the Rules framed by the Court for mediation/conciliation and the same shall be as under:
Fresh Reference From Court
- On reference by the Court, the Centre shall fix an early date to commence the On-Line session
- On receipt of the order from the Court, a Mediator shall be appointed and the order shall be emailed to the Mediator. The Centre shall coordinate with the Mediator, the parties and their lawyers for facilitating holding of mediation sessions in terms of the referral order through CISCO WEBEX facilities provided to the Centre
- A link with the time and date shall be sent separately through email to the Mediator and the parties and their counsel for every meeting to be held for the purposes of conducting mediation.
- Once the Mediator and the Parties have joined the Samadhan On-Line Mediation, an undertaking shall be given by everyone so as to maintain confidentiality of the process.
- The Mediator shall have the option to have joint sessions with the parties In addition to the caucus (private) sessions.
- Once the session is over, the Mediator may choose to call upon the parties for a session on another date or conclude the mediation.
- In case the Mediation is concluded successfully, the Mediator shall prepare the “Settlement Draft”
- The final Settlement Agreement with the Digital Signatures of the Mediator shall then be sent to the Hon’ble Court by the Centre.
- In case of Non-Settlementor Non Starter, a report shall be prepared by the mediator to the said effect, maintaining confidentiality of the process and be sent to the Hon’ble court.
Pre Litigation Conciliation
- A party may approach the Centre by writing an Email and attaching an application for pre litigation conciliation on its email [email protected]
- The party shall deposit the mandatory fee of Rs.21,000, Rs.20,000 towards mediation charges and Rs.1000 towards the administrative charges through Net Banking in the account of the Registrar General, Delhi High Court.
- Having received the request, the Centre shall appoint a Mediator/ Conciliator and then issue a request notice to the other side through email.
- In case the request notice sent by the Centre is not acknowledged or no response is received by the Centre to the request notice issued for On-Line Mediation/Conciliation then a final request notice, for a date not later than 10 days from the date of the request notice, shall be sent through email.
- In case the final request notice remains unacknowledged or the opposite Party does not give consent for participation or refuses to participate, then the matter shall be closed as a Non-Starter.
- In both the cases when matter is closed as a Non- Starter, the amount of Rs.20,000, deposited towards mediation charges shall be refunded to the person who deposited the said amount.
- An amount of Rs. 5001-(Rupees Five Hundred Only), for each session shall be charged at the end of the proceedings.
- In case the Mediation/Conciliation is concluded successfully, then the Mediator/ Conciliator shall prepare the “Conciliated Agreement”
- The parties shall provide stamp paper of Rs.1001- (online) and shall also provide their passport size photographs. The finally approved Conciliated Agreement shall be signed digitally by all the parties their respective counsel(s) and the Mediator.
Pre-Institution Mediation
- On receipt of an application from the Authority under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, the same shall be marked to a Mediator who shall conduct mediation through Video Conferencing and shall finalize and facilitate execution of the Settlement Agreement through digital signatures of all parties and their counsel(s).
Pending Matters
- To start On-Line Mediation in all the pending matters, court referred or pre-litigation/ conciliation a message shall be sent to the parties and lawyers through SMS/ WhatsApp on the telephone numbers provided by them or through email on the addresses provided in the Consent Form or a call shall be made to get consent of the parties for their participation in the mediation sessions through video conferencing.
- On obtaining consent of all the parties, the process of mediation/ conciliation sessions shall start through video conferencing which shall be concluded as detailed above depending upon their nature i.e. Court referred or pre-litigation/ conciliation.
-India Legal Bureau