Submitted by Team - D

Alternate Dispute Resolution Legal Survey Lok Adalat Partial fulfilment of the requirement for the LLB Unitary Degree Course in Law (Evening) of the University of Kerala Submitted by Team - D THE KERALA LAW ACADEMY LAW COLLEGE THIRUVANANTHAPURAM NOVEMBER 2019 Alternate Dispute Resolution LLB Unitary Degree Course in Law - Evening (472) 2017-2020 Batch GROUP - D MEMORANDUM FOR MEDIATION NEGOTIATORS: Sl No Name of Parties Representing Organization AP1 Rahul K Environment & Tree Aggrieved AP2 Ullas Heritage & Child Line Parties AP3 Kumari Jayasree Shop Keepers Sl No Name of Parties Representing Organization DP1 Sumesh S Citizen Defendant DP2 Shaji KSRTC Parties DP3 Mary CA TRIDA MEDIATOR: Mediator Vivekanandan K L 1 | P a g e Index SL No Descriptions Page 1 General Introduction on Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) 03 2 The Opted Method of Alternative Dispute Resolution 05 3 Fact of the Case 07 4 Fact In Issue 08 5 Script of the Role Play 09 i Introductory Session 09 6 Presenting Sessions 11 7 Consensus Session 17 8 Settlement / Conclusion Session 19 9 Decision 19 Appendix List of Supporting Documents SLNO Parties Description 1 TRIDA Proposed Plan 2 Citizen Group Accident details and area map 3 KSRTC Schedule and route details 4 Child Line Children Playground necessity 5 Shop Keepers Plan Map – Demolishing area 6 Environmentalist Heritage structure and details 2 | P a g e General Introduction on Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) Introduction Indian judiciary is one of the oldest judicial system, a world-renowned fact but nowadays it is also well-known fact that Indian judiciary is becoming inefficient to deal with pending cases, Indian courts are clogged with long unsettled cases. The scenario is that even after setting up more than a thousand fast track Courts that already settled millions of cases the problem is far from being solved as pending cases are still piling up. Alternative Dispute Resolution The concept of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism can provide a substitute to the conventional methods of resolving disputes. ADR offers to resolve all type of matters including civil, commercial, industrial and family etc., where people are not being able to start any type of negotiation and reach the settlement. Generally, ADR uses neutral third party who helps the parties to communicate, discuss the differences and resolve the dispute. It is a method which enables individuals and group to maintain co-operation, social order and provides opportunity to reduce hostility. Important Legal Application to ADR • Section 89 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 provides that opportunity to the people, if it appears to court there exist elements of settlement outside the court then court formulate the terms of the possible settlement and refer the same for: Arbitration, Conciliation, Mediation or Lok Adalat. • The Acts which deals with Alternative Dispute Resolution are Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and, • The Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 Different Types of Alternative Dispute Resolution Two most common forms of ADR are arbitration and mediation, negotiation is almost always attempted first to resolve a dispute. It is the preeminent mode of dispute resolution. Negotiation allows the parties to meet in order to settle a dispute. The main advantage of this form of dispute settlement is that it allows the parties themselves to control the process and the solution. 3 | P a g e Arbitration: Arbitration utilizes the help of a neutral third party, and is similar to an informal trial. After hearing each side, the third party issues a decision that the disputing parties may have agreed to be binding or non-binding. When binding, the decision can be enforced by a court and is considered final. Although the arbiter is an active facilitator and will pronounce a decision, the arbitration process is still less formal than an outright trial due to many of the rules of evidence not applying. Mediation: At first glance, mediation and arbitration are incredibly similar. One of the main differences is that a mediator, or impartial third party, cannot force the parties to agree and is not allowed to decide the outcome of the dispute. The mediator works with the parties to come to a solution that is made mutually, and the agreements are generally non-binding. Courts can mandate that mediation be required, but the process itself is still voluntary, therefore allowing the parties to refuse to come to an agreement. While in mediation, the parties maintain significant control over the process. Mediation is completely confidential and, since it is non-binding, parties retain the right to pursue litigation following the mediation process. Conciliation: Is a less formal form of arbitration. This process does not require an existence of any prior agreement. Any party can request the other party to appoint a conciliator. One conciliator is preferred but two or three are also allowed. In case of multiple conciliators, all must act jointly. If a party rejects an offer to conciliate, there can be conciliation. Parties may submit statements to the conciliator describing the general nature of the dispute and the points at issue. Each party sends a copy of the statement to the other. The conciliator may request further details, may ask to meet the parties, or communicate with the parties orally or in writing. Parties may even submit suggestions for the settlement of the dispute to the conciliator. When it appears to the conciliator that elements of settlement exist, he may draw up the terms of settlement and send it to the parties for their acceptance. If both the parties sign the settlement document, it shall be final and binding on both. 4 | P a g e Lok Adalat Etymologically, Lok Adalat means "people's court". India has had a long history of resolving disputes through the mediation of village elders. The current system of Lok Adalats is an improvement on that and is based on Gandhian principles. This is a non-adversarial system, whereby mock courts (called Lok Adalats) are held by the State Authority, District Authority, Supreme Court Legal Services Committee, High Court Legal Services Committee, or Taluk Legal Services Committee, periodically for exercising such jurisdiction as they think fit. These are usually presided by retired judge, social activists, or members of legal profession. The focus in Lok Adalats is on compromise. When no compromise is reached, the matter goes back to the court. However, if a compromise is reached, an award is made and is binding on the parties. It is enforced as a decree of a civil court. An important aspect is that the award is final and cannot be appealed, not even under Article 226 of the Constitution of India [which empowers the litigants to file Writ Petition before High Courts] because it is a judgement by consent. All proceedings of a Lok Adalat are deemed to be judicial proceedings and every Lok Adalat is deemed to be a Civil Court. The methods of ADR allow the parties to come up with more creative solutions that a court may not be legally allowed to impose. They are increasingly being utilized in disputes that would otherwise result in litigation, including high-profile labour disputes, divorce actions, and personal injury claims. Public courts may be asked to review the validity of ADR methods, but they will rarely overturn ADR decisions and awards if the disputing parties formed a valid contract to abide by them. The Opted Method of Alternative Dispute Resolution We opt for mediation as the suitable mechanism for resolving the disputes arising from the context. Mediation denotes the act of the third party pertaining to clinching the dispute between two contesting and containing parties to the dispute. It is also a process by which a third party emerges to assist the conflicting parties to find out a solution to their problem. In places where two contesting parties cannot reach a settlement or fail to settle the dispute by negotiation, in such an case, those parties may take the assistance of some third person who is independent in respect of the subject matter of dispute. Such person induces sound reason in to the parties’ minds to come to a friendly settlement of their dispute by means of conciliation. This friendly settlement is an effort to induce parties to exchange their disputed matters, points and versions relating to their subject matter of the dispute. In this process of conciliation and the course of mediation that independent person who is a third party uses his goodwill and impression in resolving the problem. Therefore mediation is called a friendly device for dispute settlement. 5 | P a g e Mediation is free from complications, technicalities and also strict adherence to procedural laws. Freedom to exchange views between the disputing parties and discussing issues through mediator are yet some of the other facilities that which encourages it. Burdened court cases, docket explosion and unending long delays in courts, both at national and international level is another candid reason for the ever increasing welcome role to mediation at International level also, in their commercial transactions. The best summation for the need of mediation is visible in the Guru Nanak Foundation v. Rattan Singh & Sons case, AIR 1981 SC 2075, where it was felt that court fed litigation has an abundance of procedural “claptraps” when compared to ADR systems which is more speedy, less formal and effective as compared to complex, expensive, time consuming and interminable court procedures where “lawyers laugh and legal philosophers weep”. In the present case the High Court directed the appeal to the mediation cell which makes mediation as a viable option for the same. 6 | P a g e FACT OF THE CASE Kerala Government has recently allotted a portion of the campus of the Central High School, Attakulangara to Thiruvananthapuram Development Authority (TRIDA) for relocating the city bus terminal , presently located in East Fort, less than a kilometre away.

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