New Delhi, Sep 27: Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai will initiate discussions on adding momentum to mediation and strengthening its practice as he inaugurates the Second National Mediation Conference 2025 in Bhubaneswar on Saturday evening, a statement said.

CJI Gavai, who has often stressed on steps to reduce the workload of courts, is expected to reiterate that mediation is an essential part of the delivery of justice, which is at the heart of the Constitution of India – our founding text.

Mediation can speed up the delivery of justice not only in the specific case under consideration, but also in other cases, by reducing the burden on courts of a large number of litigations, according to experts.

Union Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will also join the two-day conference that follows the first edition held in Delhi in May.

On May 3, President Droupadi Murmu joined the launch of the Mediation Association of India and addressed the First National Mediation Conference 2025, emphasising the need to extend the resolution mechanism to rural areas.

She said that the Mediation Act should be extended to rural areas so that the Panchayats are legally empowered to mediate and resolve the conflicts in villages.

The President said that the Mediation Act, 2023, was the first step in consolidating the civilisational legacy. Now we need to add momentum to it and strengthen its practice.

“Social harmony in villages is an essential prerequisite of making the nation strong,” she said.

The President highlighted that mediation can make the overall judicial system much more efficient by opening up the developmental pathways that might have been blocked.

“It can enhance both the ease of doing business and the ease of living. Mediation, when we see it this way, becomes a key instrument to realise the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047,” she said.

The Second National Mediation Conference is being held at Loka Seva Bhavan, Bhubaneswar, under the aegis of the Office of the Advocate General, Odisha and the Department of Law, Government of Odisha.

The Attorney General of India, the Solicitor General of India, and the Additional Solicitor Generals of India are also likely to attend the function as per their confirmation.

The Advocate Generals of various states are also the invitees to the function, a good number of Vice Chancellors of different National Law Universities, and persons trained in mediation are in the list of invitees, said the Advocate General of Odisha in a statement.

The state AG said that besides the heads of different Insurance Companies, Public Sector Undertakings, government and semi-government bodies, who are litigating with the private litigants, have also been invited to the national event.

(IANS)

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