India faces a massive backlog of cases, with millions pending across courts, highlighting the urgent need for judicial reforms and faster case resolution.

Reasons for Judicial Backlog in India

• Scale of Pendency:
• • Supreme Court: 82,000 cases
  • High Courts: 62 lakh+ cases
  • Lower Courts: Nearly 5 crore cases
  • Long-term pendency: 50 lakh+ cases pending for over 10 years
• Low Judge-to-Population Ratio: 21 judges per million people
• Adversarial System: Multiple interim applications and appeals delay resolution
• Infrastructure Issues: Insufficient courtrooms, finances, and staff
• Case Delays: Frequent adjournments add to delays. Long pendency results in denial of justice Delayed cases lose relevance, causing judicial inefficiency

Reform Measures

• Data Governance: Helps avoid repetitive litigation and speeds up disposal
• Appointment: Retired Judges as Ad-hoc Appointments provides temporary relief but not a systemic solution
• Targeted Legal Reforms: Streamlining landlord-tenant disputes and cheque bounce cases Introducing punitive costs to deter frivolous litigation
• Government’s Role: Major litigant in half of all court cases Needs to reduce unnecessary litigation and prioritize settlements

Mediation in India 

• About: Lawyer-led, Judge-Guided Process where Disputants engage with a neutral mediator in a confidential setting.
• Evolution: 
  • 1990s: Mediation was in its nascent stage
  • 2005 Onwards: Gained prominence as a court-annexed dispute resolution method

Key Features of Mediation

• Non-impositional: No forced verdicts; parties arrive at a mutually acceptable solution
• Focus on Interests: Encourages practical and fair resolutions
• Applicability: Used in civil, commercial, personal, property, matrimonial, and mercantile disputes

Advantages of Mediation

• Reduces Case Load: Helps settle disputes outside the formal court system
• Speeds Up Resolution: Avoids lengthy litigation procedures
• Business & Government Adoption: Increasing use in commercial and policy disputes
• Encouraging Response: More professionals are training as mediators
• Lower Costs: Mediation is a fraction of the cost of full litigation
• Faster Resolutions: Most cases require only a few sessions, even complex ones take far less time than litigation
• Minimal Infrastructure : No heavy administrative burden or prolonged hearings
• Practical Resolutions: Solutions are mutually agreed upon rather than imposed
• Restoration of Relationships: Mediation fosters cooperation, unlike adversarial litigation

Way Forward

• Full-fledged Professionalization: Needs wider acceptance and structured remuneration
• Institutional Support: Businesses, government, and legal bodies must integrate mediation as a first step in dispute resolution
• Judicial Endorsement: Judges widely recognize mediation as the way forward
• Judicial Backlog: 
  • For Judges: The backlog represents an overwhelming burden
  • For Mediators: It is a vast untapped opportunity for dispute resolution
• Case Identification: Courts must filter and assign suitable cases for mediation
• Mediator Selection: Parties can either choose a mediator or be assigned a trained professional
• Fee Structure: Establishing a reasonable fee for mediators ensures sustainability
• Systematic Adoption: Courts must institutionalize mediation as the first step in dispute resolution
• Reframing the Perspective: Viewing backlog as a mediation pipeline rather than a failure of the judiciary
• Sustained Reform: Encouraging broader acceptance among litigants, lawyers, and businesses

Conclusion

Mediation has significant potential to ease judicial backlogs by offering a faster, cost-effective, and interest-based alternative to traditional litigation. Its success depends on greater professionalization, awareness, and structured adoption across legal and commercial sectors.

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