Overview

• Opening the Second National Mediation Conference in Bhubaneswar, the CJI said the future of mediation cannot be secured by any single law, campaign or conference and hinges on sustained practice, community acceptance and dedicated infrastructure.
• He cited Section 43 of the Mediation Act, 2023 to press for community mediation and proposed adapting NALSA’s 40‑hour training in regional languages so ordinary citizens can resolve local disputes.
• Conference sessions focus on implementation of the Mediation Act through pre‑litigation pathways and sector‑specific use cases spanning corporate governance, healthcare, intellectual property, environmental conflicts and public contracts.
• Justice Surya Kant highlighted the Supreme Court’s “Mediation for the Nation” 90‑day drive and called for structured mediation, noting an estimated need for about 250,000 trained mediators versus roughly 13,000 at present.
• Justice B. V. Nagarathna urged building specialist capacity for areas like environment and IPR and emphasized professional training, ethics, accreditation and stronger institutional frameworks.