By All Means, Let It Rain! Rain Is Welcome On The Entire Mediation Landscape, Not In Select Judicial Enclaves Questionably Acquired-A Response To Sr.Adv.K Kannan's Article

Mr. Kannan's piece talks about the virtues of setting up a mediation center with world-class infrastructure with the leadership and participation of the Chief Justice of India and Judges of the Supreme Court on the Governing Council. He mentions other instances such as the International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ICADR) in Delhi and the Delhi International Arbitration Centre where the Chief Justice of India and Chief Justice of Delhi High Court are patrons. What then is wrong, he asks, with the current Chief Justice of India, N.V. Ramana, setting up the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre (IAMC) in Hyderabad.

His question provides the answer. There is no problem if the Supreme Court as an official institution creates a mediation initiative for the promotion of the mediation and institutional activities connected therein and makes it broad-based with senior officials from the court and government, senior mediation practitioners and Bar representatives. Indeed, such a step would be welcome. The problem arises, as it has done in this case, when three individual Judges have gotten together to form an organisation on their own accord, not in a representative capacity for the court nor in any other official capacity. The Court has not sanctioned any such institution. The IAMC is controlled not by the Court but by these three Judges and others who they have chosen to be with them. That is the big and crucial difference between an official body institutionally managed in ex officio capacity by current serving officers on one hand and on the other an attempt under the guise of officialdom to start a private self-controlled initiative that functions like a closed shop and is under the control in perpetuity of these judges even after demitting office. This is a masquerade and let us be blunt about it. This is similar to what Mr. H R Bhardwaj did when he started the International Centre of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ICADR) in 1995. In the nomenclature of the Governing Council, he put "Dr. H R Bharadwaj, Union Minister for Law & Justice" instead of "Union Minister for Law & Justice". By this one device, he managed to assert successfully for many years that even after he demitted office as Union Minister, he continued to be the President of the ICADR and continued to avail of official patronage. It was only recently, after much effort, that this privatisation was put an end to, and the government took over control of the institution.

The other question that Mr. Kannan asks is what is wrong with Judges setting up a mediation centre. Nothing is the short answer, provided you do so after retirement. Everything is the short answer, when you try and do it during the tenure of your office as a judge. Kannan does not refer to the Restatement of Values of Judicial Life authored by Chief Justice J.S. Verma, to which I made reference in my article. Perhaps just as well, because he would have found 5 uncomfortable points there which militate against the view that he now espouses. While you are a Judge you must confine yourself to judging and not foray into activities which bring you into dealings with politicians. Nor must you run commercial operations.

While in this vein, why is Kannan not talking about the extraordinary amount of property that the Government of Telangana has bestowed upon this Trust. He does not dispute the valuation of the land of 4 acres in Hyderabad's financial district which is estimated as being upward of Rs. 250 Crores. He does not dispute the provision of 25,000 sq. ft. of prime commercial built-up space made available to this Trust by the State Government. For a Trust termed as public charitable but a private body all the same, not an official body of any organ of the State. Judges have been impeached for less. Attention has also been drawn in forums to the application of the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, especially Section 11, to this transaction. The Section penalizes public servants when they accept a property without consideration or inadequate consideration from persons with whom they have or are likely to have dealings in their official capacity. Read judges, governments, and politicians as actors in the scenario of the Section.

Kannan goes on to ask what is wrong if this mediation initiative is into resolving commercial disputes for a fee. In that one question, if the answer is in the negative, he has destroyed the Mediation Movement in India. If sitting judges can create commercial mediation centres while in office, is there any hope for this practice as a profession by the thousands of lawyer mediators and mediators from other backgrounds? Will not judges who are so minded quickly move to monopolize the work, rewards, and gains if they are allowed to do so? I am not pitching for pro bono mediation as the mainstay; I work tirelessly to promote mediation as a full-fledged professional practice, and it is my genuine fear and apprehension that such judicial take-overs will destroy this prospect.

Kannan talks about my being a beneficiary of a referral through IAMC as though this has anything to do with the issue. I was appointed as a mediator by the IAMC, although I will not describe myself as a beneficiary ( no professional should ). In that case, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had made the reference to IAMC, as no doubt it was told to do. The IAMC then offered the parties the choice of some mediators from its panel, I am not a member of the panel, and my name was not offered. I am given to understand that the parties told the IAMC that being unfamiliar with the mediation background of the panel they would want to interview them before deciding whether to accept them or not. They however also told IAMC that if it approached me to be the mediator, there would be no need for an interview because they were well aware of my experience. The IAMC adopted the latter course and requested me to serve as the Mediator. I accepted and I am continuing with the assignment. I must place on record my appreciation for the competence and the value that the IAMC case manager has brought to the mediation which has been of considerable assistance to me.

Mr Kannan further states that only two cases have been referred to the IAMC by the NCLT, Hyderabad and thereby gives the impression that this body has very little work. This does not correspond to IAMC's first quarterly report featured in BW Legal World (link) . I quote "In this short timeframe IAMC, Hyderabad has been fortunate to administer a variety of disputes for an aggregate value of approximately USD 400 million covering a wide spectrum of matters from the Energy sector, real estate to family disputes." The highlights of the report include - "Twenty-two matters (including a batch of matters) have been referred to IAMC, Hyderabad by various Courts and Tribunals across the country including two matters from the Supreme Court" and "The Centre is poised to continue its growth in a new four-acre space in pursuit of its vision and mission, the foundation for which was laid by the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India on March 12,2022". In the beginning of his article, Mr. Kannan talks about the need for me to cross-check facts, and I would administer the same caution to him here.

It appears that the current Chief Justice of India has been promoting his institution internationally. On 21^st June, in his inaugural address delivered at the Annual Meet of Indo – German Chamber of Commerce on "Arbitration in a Globalised World – The Indian Experience" at Dortmund, Germany, he is reported to have said that it was at the initiative of the CJI that the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre was set up in Hyderabad. This is a misrepresentation of facts. This is not under the aegis of the CJI; it is under the aegis of the Sri N V Ramana who happens to be the current CJI. Once again let us make it clear that the composition of the Council is not ex officio, not institutional, not official but a set of individuals who currently hold office and will continue to run the show even after demitting office.

If Mr. Kannan takes exception to my saying that IAMC should be shut down, I have no problem modifying it - let there be a full scope exit of current office bearers, a full entry of ex officio serving senior judges, representatives of Government as well as the Bar, and mediators. Let the institution focus on the development and promotion of mediation and institutional activities for which there is much work to be done, without getting into the commercial aspects, which no official body should do. If such is to be the case then I will say that it was ill begun and wrongly run, but the wrong may yet be undone.

The author is a Senior Advocate and Mediator

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.