[COVID-19] Delhi High Court notifies "Samadhan On-Line Mediation Project" at its Mediation & Conciliation Centre

The Delhi High Court has notified "Samadhan On-Line Mediation Project" at its Mediation & Conciliation Centre in an attempt to hold virtual sessions for dispute resolution amid COVID-19 pandemic. .The sessions shall be conducted through CISCO WEBEX platform. .As per the Notice issued by the High Court,."On-Line Mediation would definitely be a step forward in making this world a better place for everyone till the situation changes and it is safe to sit across the table to hold negotiations for the purpose of resolution of disputes.".At present, the total pendency at the Centre is 846 which includes 670 Court Referred Mediation Matters and 172 Pre-Litigation Matter. 4 are Pre-Institution Mediation matters..Broadly, the proposed steps for virtual mediation are as follows:.For Fresh Reference From Court.- On receipt of an order from court referring parties to mediation, the Centre shall fix an early date to commence the online session unless the Court has fixed any specific date and time for the said purpose..- On receipt of the order from the Court, a Mediator shall be appointed and the order shall be emailed to the Mediator. The Centre shall coordinate with the Mediator, the parties and their lawyers for facilitating holding of mediatjon sessions in terms of the referral order through CISCO WEBEX facilities provided to the Centre..- A link with the time and date shall be sent separately through email to the Mediator and the parties and their counsel for every meeting. .- After the Mediator and the Parties join the Samadhan On-Line Mediation, an undertaking shall be given by everyone by way of a pop-up to maintain confidentiality..- The Mediator shall have the option to have joint sessions with the parties in addition to the caucus (private) sessions..-The Settlement Draft shall be finalized by circulating to all concerned through email. Once the terms of the Settlement are agreed between the parties, the Mediator shall draw the final Settlement Agreement and shall then make a PDF of the "Settlement Agreement" and email the same to the parties through the email of the Centre for their consent..- On receipt of consent from all the parties through email, the Meditator/ Centre shall verify the contents of all the consent emails and the attached PDF documents to confirm the accuracy of the contents of the "Settlement Agreement"..- The final Settlement Agreement with the Digital Signatures of the Mediator shall finally be sent to the Court by the Centre..- In case of non-settlement or Non-Starter, a report shall be prepared by the mediator while maintaining confidentiality of the process and the same shall be sent to the Court..For Pre Litigation/Conciliation.- A party may approach the Centre by writing an Email and attaching an application for pre litigation/conciliation on its email addressdhcmcc@gmail.com, alongwith details of the other party..- The party shall deposit the mandatory fee of Rs 21,OOO, mediation charges of Rs 20,OOO and administrative charges of Rs 1,000 through Net Banking in the account of the Registrar General, Delhi High Court..- Thereafter, the Centre shall appoint a Mediator/Conciliator and issue a request notice to the other side through email. .- In case the request notice is not acknowledged or no response is received, a final request notice for a date not later than 10 days from the date of the request notice, shall be sent through email..- In case the final request notice remains unacknowledged or the opposite Party does not give consent for participation or refuses to participate, the matter shall be closed as a Non-Starter..- An amount of Rs 500 for each session shall be charged at the end of the proceedings..- In case the Conciliation is concluded successfully, then the Mediator/ Conciliator shall prepare the "Conciliated Agreement" which shall be finalized by circulating to all concerned through email in accordance with the prescribed procedure. .For Pre-Institution Mediation.- The application/petition from the Authority under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 shall be marked to a Mediator who shall conduct mediation as detailed above through Video Conferencing and shall finalize and facilitate execution of the Settlement Agreement through digital signatures of all parties and their counsel(s)..For Pending matters.- A message shall be sent to the parties and lawyers through SMS/WhatsApp or through email on the addresses provided in the Consent Form or a call shall be made to get consent of the parties for their participation in the mediation sessions through video conferencing..- On obtaining the consent of all the parties, the process of mediation/conciliation shall start through video conferencing as detailed above. .Read the Notice: