Now, govt mediation centre to ease burden on trial courts

Now, govt mediation centre to ease burden on trial courts




The Delhi government’s first district mediation centre was inaugurated at Patparganj in East Delhi to ease the burden on trial courts in the city, grappling with more than 12 lakh cases at present.



The centre, inaugurated by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, will cater primarily to the residents of East Delhi and Northeast Delhi. It will help resolve disputes related to land, family matters, row between neighbours and cheque bounce cases before they reach the courts.



Officials said such mediation centres, to be opened in all districts of the city in the next two months, will also address consumer grievances.



Principal Secretary (Law) M L Mehta said: “There are about 15,000 case pending with consumer courts which leads to delay in judgments. The mediation centre will also be empowered to issue notices to government departments, in case a grievance is registered with them.”





Grievances related to government departments include complaints regarding bad roads, noise pollution and nuisance caused by neighbours.



The Delhi Police will also be able to refer cases after registering FIR over disputes reported at local police stations.



The initiative was mooted through the office of the Chief Justice of India to reduce the number of pending cases in city courts. Mehta said the Law department is conducting training sessions for police personnel on the nature of cases that could be referred to these mediation centres.



Besides trained lawyers hired by the government for the mediation panel, the department is also looking at including prominent members of the community or locality. “These could be retired bureaucrats, officials or RWA members who would want to volunteer for community service,” Mehta said.



... contd.



The mediation centres, to be opened in all nine districts of the city, will be run by the Delhi Disputes Resolution Society, registered by the government, and will include Additional District Judge Neena Bansal on the panel.



For matters pertaining to ‘bad’ cheques, the society will charge consumers a nominal fee of Rs 500 for a cheque worth Rs 50,000. The amount will go up to Rs 1,000 for cheques worth Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1,500 for cheques worth Rs 5 lakh.


( Good step...good wishes Sheilaji, but god save them from corruption....and help them achieving their goal...vibha)