SC judge Nagarathna stresses integrating adjudication, ADR for resolving family disputes

Guwahati, Supreme Court judge B V Nagarathna on Saturday stressed that adjudication and alternative dispute resolution must work together in the delivery of justice in matters of family disputes.

The chairperson of the Committee for Family Court Matters in the apex court also emphasised that speedy resolution cannot come at the cost of meaningful and just outcomes.

Justice Nagarathna was speaking at the opening ceremony of a two-day eastern zone regional conference on 'ADR vs adjudication in family disputes: Challenges and way forward', organised here by the Committee for Family Court Matters, Supreme Court, in association with the Gauhati High Court.

"It would be apposite to consider whether the framing of this theme suggests an apparent conflict. After all, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms are not meant to supplant courts. Rather, the two should ideally aid in delivery of justice, with ADR mechanisms offering speed, privacy and confidentiality in family matters," she said.

Mentioning delays in the delivery of judgments in family dispute cases when time is of the essence in several such cases, Justice Nagarathna said such delays lead to exaggeration of existing inequalities in familial relationships.

She stressed that one mode of addressing these inordinate delays is through ADR.

Justice Nagarathna maintained that the mode of dispute resolution has to be determined depending on its nature, highlighting that "the absence of acrimony and adversarial style of a courtroom may also result in reconciliation" if the case is taken up through ADR.

She said strategic use of ADR mechanisms could help in reducing pendency of cases, adding that the number of pending cases in the eastern states ranges from 70,365 in Bihar to 36,792 in Odisha, 7,399 in Assam to 149 in Sikkim as of October, 2024.

Justice Nagarathna said that a system of integrating ADR with adjudication in a manner that would allow for the speedy resolution of disputes in cases where speed is of the essence, but not at the cost of meaningful and just outcomes, is yet to be evolved.

"…mediation is not meant to be substituted for adjudication, and a woman's bargaining position is worth precisely what her legal entitlement is worth," she added.

The Supreme Court judge hoped the conference would come forward with practical and actionable suggestions to develop and bolster such a system.

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