Lok Sabha Question No. 2885 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-10
Subject: Settlement of Disputes
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Sukanta Majumdar, Ramcharan Bohra, Raja Amareshwara Naik, Khagen Murmu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AFFAIRS

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## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2885 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 10 TH JULY, 2019

## SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES

2885. SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR:

SHRI RAMCHARAN BOHRA:

SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

SHRI KHAGEN MURMU:

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has examined the recommendations of law commission on amendments in Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, if so, the details thereof and the present status thereof;
- (b) whether the High Level Committee has recommended for amendments to encourage institutional arbitration for settlement of disputes and if so, the details of the recommendations;
- (c) whether  Government  has  approved  the  Arbitration  and  Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2018 to make India a centre of robust Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the  number  of  Mediation  Centres/  Alternative  Dispute  Resolution (ADR) centres set up in the country during each of the last three years along with the number of cases disposed of by the said centres during the said period;
- (e) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  increase  the  number  of  such centres in near future, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (f) whether Government has approved the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2018; and
- (g) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government for expeditious disposal of commercial disputes?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

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- (a) to (g) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (g) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2885 FOR 10.07.2019, REGARDING 'SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES' BY SHRI VINOD KUMAR  SONKAR, DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR, SHRI RAMCHARAN BOHRA, SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK, AND SHRI KHAGEN MURMU, HON'BLE M.P.s:

(a): The  Arbitration  and  Conciliation  Act,  1996  was  amended  by  the Arbitration  and  Conciliation  (Amendment)  Act,  2015  by  the  Government after examination and due consideration ofthe 246 th Report and Supplementary  Report  of  the  Law  Commission  of  Indiaand  suggestions received  from  other  stake  holders.  The  amended  Act,  inter-alia,  provides time  limit  for  arbitral  award,  fast  track  procedure,  neutrality  of  arbitrator, timely  execution  of  arbitral  award,  restricting  the  scope  for  challenging  of arbitral award, minimum court interference and fee of the arbitrators etc.

(b) & (c): To encourage institutionalisation of arbitration mechanisms in the country, the Government has, after considering the recommendations of the High Level Committee (HLC) to review the institutionalisation of arbitration mechanisms in India,introduced a Bill namely 'The Arbitration and Conciliation  (Amendment)  Bill,  2018'in  the  Lok  Sabha  on  18.07.2018  and the  Bill  was  passed  by  the  Lok  Sabha  on  10.08.2019.  The  amendment Bill,inter-alia,  provides  forestablishment  of  the  Arbitration  Council  of  India with the mandate  to promote and encourage arbitration, mediation, conciliation  or  other  alternative  dispute  resolution  mechanism  and  for  that purpose to frame policy and guidelines for the establishment, operation and maintenance  of  uniform  professional  standards  in  respect  of  all  matters relating to arbitration.However, due to dissolution of the 16 th  Lok Sabha, the Bill lapsed as it could not be passed by the Rajya Sabha.

(d) & (e): The number of Mediation Centres/ Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)  Centres  set  up  by  the  State  Legal  Services  Authority  constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 alongwith number of cases disposed  of  by  these  centres  during  each  of  the  last  three  years,  as  per available information is as under:

|   S.No. | Period   |   Number of functional ADR Centres |   Number of cases settled through mediation |
|---------|----------|------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
|       1 | 2016-17  |                                375 |                                       93730 |
|       2 | 2017-18  |                                556 |                                      107587 |
|       3 | 2018-19  |                                582 |                                       98966 |

(f)  &  (g): The Central  Government amended the Commercial Courts, Act, 2015 by the Commercial Courts (Amendment) Act, 2018. The provisions of the amended Act facilitates fast tracking of commercial disputes by reducing the specified value of a commercial dispute to Rs. 3 lakh from the earlier Rs. 1.00 Crore, and establishment of Commercial Courts at District Judge level in jurisdictions where High Courts enjoy Ordinary Original Civil Jurisdiction. The amended Act also provides for Pre-Institution Mediation and Settlement (PIMS) Mechanism  for compulsory mediation in certain cases before institution  of  a  suit.  TheState  Legal  Services  Authority  and  District  Legal Services Authority constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 areauthorised to conduct Pre-Institution Mediation and Settlement.

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