Provisions for Settlement of Disputes Outside the Court in India

Settlement of disputes outside the Court. (S. 89):

(1) Where it appears to the court that there exist elements of a settlement which may be acceptable to the parties, the court shall formulate the terms of settlement and give them to the parties for their observations and after receiving the observations of the parties, the court may reformulate the terms of a possible settlement and refer the same for—

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(a) Arbitration;

(b) Conciliation;

(c) Judicial settlement including the settlement through Lok Adalat;

(d) Mediation.

(2) Where a dispute has been referred—

(a) For arbitration or conciliation, the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (26 of 1996) shall apply as if the proceeding or conciliation were referred for settlement under the provisions of that Act;

(b) To Lok Adalat. the court shall refer the same to the Lok Adalat in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 20 of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 (39 of 1987) and all provisions of that Act shall apply in respect of the dispute referred to the Lok Adalat;

(c) For judicial settlement, the Court shall refer the same to a suitable institution or person and such institution or person shall be deemed to be a Lok Adalat and all the provisions of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 (39 of 1987) shall apply as if the dispute was referred to a Lok Adalat under the provisions of that Act.

(d) For mediation, the court shall affect a compromise between the parties and shall follow such procedure as may be prescribed.