ADR MECHANISMS IN INDIA

ADR is an effort to design a workable and fair alternative to our

traditional judicial system. It is a fast track system of
dispensing justice
ADR mechanisms.
1.arbitration,
Conciliation Act, 1996

The acts
Arbitration and

2.conciliation
3. mediation,
4.negotiation
5.Ombudsman(Lokpal &Lokayukta) Lokpal Act
6. court-annexed ADR
Procedure Code, 1908
7.tribunals
8.lokadalats
Authorities Act, 1987

Section 89 of the Civil

under various acts
the Legal Services

Arbitration:
It is one of the cardinal mechanism in alternate dispute
machinery. Whereby the dispute is submitted to one or more
arbitrators, who is duly appointed by both the parties.They give
their verdict in the form of Arbitral Award, which is legally
binding on disputed parties. The process of arbitration can start
only if there exists a valid Arbitration Agreement between the
parties prior to the emergence of the dispute. As per Section 7,
such an agreement must be in writing. Section 34 provides
certain grounds upon which a party can appeal to the principal
civil court of original jurisdiction for setting aside the
award.Arbitration is very common in business transactions.
Conciliation
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Conciliation is a less formal form of arbitration. This process

does not require an existence of any prior agreement. Unlike
the Arbitration there is no determination of a dispute. There
need not be a prior agreement. A third party called
Conciliator meets disputed parties separately in order to
resolve their differences..
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.
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.
The proceedings relating to Conciliation are dealt under
sections 61 to 81 of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
Mediation
Mediation aims to assist two (or more) disputants in reaching
an agreement.The parties themselves determine the conditions
of any settlements reached rather than accepting something
imposed by a third party.
The disputes may involve (as parties) states, organizations,
communities, individuals or other representatives with a vested
interest in the outcome.
Mediators use appropriate techniques and/or skills to open
and/or improve dialogue between disputants, aiming to help
the parties reach an agreement (with concrete effects) on the
disputed matter. Normally, all parties must view the mediator
as impartial.
Disputants may use mediation in a variety of disputes, such as
commercial, legal, diplomatic, workplace, community and
family matters.
Negotiation
Negotiation is a dialogue intended to resolve disputes, to
produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for
individual or collective advantage, or to craft outcomes to
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satisfy various interests. It is the primary method of alternative

dispute resolution.
Negotiation occurs in business, non-profit organizations,
government branches, legal proceedings, among nations and in
personal situations such as marriage, divorce, parenting, and
everyday life. Professional negotiators are often specialized,
such as union negotiators, peace negotiators, hostage
negotiators, or may work under other titles, such as diplomats,
legislators or brokers.
Ombudsman (LOkpal and Lokayukta)
The Indian Lokpal is synonymous to the institution of
Ombudsman existing in the Scandinavian countries.
The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) set up in 1966
recommended the constitution of a two-tier machinery of a
Lokpal at the Centre, and Lokayukts in the states.Copyright
www.www.examrace.com
Broadly the provisions of different bills empowered the Lokpal
to investigate corruption cases against political persons at the
Central level .
Lokpal is to be a three member body with a chairperson who is
or has been a chief justice or judge of the Supreme Court; and
its two other members who are or have been judges or chief
justices of high courts around the country.
There are as many as 17 states where the institution of
Lokayukta has been constituted, beginning with Orissa in 1971.
Court annexed ADR
The Civil Procedure Code (Amendment) Act, 1999 carries
Section 89 which is designed to enable the courts to bring
about a settlement of dispute outside the Court. As and when
the Amendment comes to be enforced, the four methods listed
in the section and known as court-ordered or court- annexed
ADRs would become statutory alternatives to litigation for
settlement of disputes and would be legally enforceable. It is
now made obligatory for the Court to refer the dispute after
issues are framed for settlement with the concurrence of the
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parties either by way of: Arbitration, Conciliation, Judicial

settlement including settlement through Lok Adalat, or
Mediation. Where the parties fail to get their disputes settled
through any of the Alternative Dispute Resolution methods, the
suit would come back to proceed further in the Court it was
filed.

Lok Adalat:
While Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is a fairly standard
western approach towards ADR, the Lok Adalat system is a
uniquely Indian approach.
India has had a long history of resolving disputes through the
mediation of village elders. The system of Lok Adalats is an
improvement on that and is based on Gandhian principles.
Lok Adalat (peoples courts), established by the government,
settles dispute through conciliation and compromise. The First
Lok Adalat was held in Chennai in 1986. Lok Adalat accepts the
cases which could be settled by conciliation and compromise
and pending in the regular courts within their jurisdiction.
The Lok Adalat is presided over by a sitting or retired judicial
officer as the chairman, with two other members, usually
a lawyerand a social worker
There is no court fee and no rigid procedural requirement (i.e.
no need to follow process given by Civil Procedure Code or
Evidence Act), which makes the process very fast. Parties can
directly interact with the judge, which is not possible in regular
courts.
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.
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An important aspect is that the award is final and cannot be

appealed, not even under Article 226 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 procedural laws and the Evidence Act are not strictly
followed while assessing the merits of the claim by the Lok
Adalat.
Lok Adalat is very effective in settlement of money claims.
Disputes like partition suits, damages and matrimonial cases
can also be easily settled before Lok Adalat as the scope for
compromise through an approach of give and take is high in
these cases.
Lok Adalat is a boon to the litigant public, where they can get
their disputes settled fast and free of cost.

TRIBUNALS IN INDIA:With the acceptance of Welfare ideology, there was mushroom

growth of public services and public servants. The courts
particularly the High Courts were inundated with cases
concerning service matters. The Swarn Singh Committee
therefore, inter-alia recommended the establishment of
Administrative Tribunals as a part of Constitutional adjudicative
system. Resultantly the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act
1976 inserted to the Constitution of India consisting of Articles
323A and 323B.
Article 323A provides for the establishment of
Administrative Tribunals for adjudication or trial of
disputes and complaints with respect to recruitment,
conditions of service of persons appointed to public
services and other allied matters.
Article 323B makes provision for the creation of Tribunals
for adjudication or trial of disputes, complaints or offences
connected with tax, foreign exchange, industrial and

labour disputes, land reforms, ceiling on urban property,

election to Parliament and State Legislatures, etc.
Parliament has power to enact any law under Article 323A
.while both Parliament and State Legislatures can make laws on
matters of Article 323B, subject to their legislative competence.
1. Central Administrative Tribunals constituted under Section
4 of the Administrative Tribunals Act 1985, have been
empowered to adjudicate matters relating to service
conditions etc.
2. Similarly the Consumer Disputes Redressal Mechanism
provided for better protection of the consumers, thereby
providing for the establishment of the District Consumer
Disputes Redressal Forum at district level, State Consumer
Disputes Redressal Commission, at the State Level and
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission at the
National Level to adjudicate the Consumer Disputes/cases
under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
3. The Income-tax Appellate Tribunal are empowered to hear
appeals under Section 253 of the Income Tax Act, 1961,
4. Central Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal is
empowered to hear appeals under Section 35(b) of the
Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944.
5. The Debt Recovery Tribunals set up under the provisions of
The Recovery of Debts due to Banks.
6. The Industrial Act provides set up
Industrial Tribunal under section 7A to adjudicate the
disputes specified in the second and third schedule of the
act and
National Tribunals Under Section7B of the Act order to
settle the industrial disputes of national importance.
The tribunal system was evolved in our country to provide an
alternative to the regular courts. The tribunals are presided
over by the experts of the respective fields and the adjudication
mechanism is cost effective, thus less costly in comparison to
the regular courts and they are effectively resolving the

disputes by taking much less time in comparison to the regular

courts.