In a landmark move, the Parliament of India recently ratified the Mediation Act 2023, a legislative milestone that firmly establishes the framework for mediation practice in the country. This crucial development has ignited widespread discussions across legal and professional circles. Recognizing the significance of this new legal landscape, the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Board at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), is hosting a panel discussion on this new legislation. Since India possesses a strong tradition of adversarial underpinnings in its legal regime, the manner in which the latest Act attempts to ground mediation as a dispute resolution instrument in this arena is an interesting line of thought to deliberate over. The aim behind conducting this panel discussion is to catalyze a holistic, multi-stakeholder-oriented discourse on the implications of this legislation. This panel will bring together distinguished industry experts who will offer their insights and expertise on various aspects of the newly enacted legislation, including the following:
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Mediability of legal issues: There are certain types of matters that have been excluded from the purview of mediation. The rationale behind these exclusions and the efficacy thereof needs critical scrutiny. The points of deliberation under the issue may include applicability of the arbitrability test and the merits of stipulation mentioned in Schedule I of the Act.
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Directory nature of Pre-Arbitration/ Litigation Mediation: The following will be a fertile area of discussion owing to competing theories on mandatory referral to mediation, the conflicting nature of sections 5 and 7 of the mediation act and the circumstances within which the same should take place.
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Essential Components of a Mediation Clause: The Mediation Act, similar to s 7 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act offers no guidance on the substance and form of a mediation clause. In line with the existing jurisprudence on pre-institution mediation clauses and the other components of mediation act, it would be interesting to discuss the components of a mediation agreement to have the intended effect in accordance with the intention of the parties. This is especially in light of the fact that multiple modalities of a mediation are left to the mediation service providers.
Panel Composition:
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Tejas Karia: Tejas Karia is a Partner with the Dispute Resolution Practice at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and is also the head of the law firm’s arbitration practice. Mr Karia has an extensive experience of representing clients across different industry sectors in arbitration proceedings before LCIA, ICC, ICADR, SIAC, as well as Indian Courts. His vast knowledge of domains such as commercial arbitrations, corporate & securities litigations vests him with a deep understanding of issues that pertain to alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as arbitration and mediation. He has also been involved in the drafting of amendments to the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015.
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Prof. Sakshi Vijay: Sakshi Vijay is currently working as an Associate Professor at the Jindal Global University in the Law School. She is a Humboldt (German Chancellor) Fellow 2018-19 with her Masters from the University of Melbourne in International Disputes Resolutions. She has worked previously in the field of Public Policy as a Consultant with the Law Commission of India (Government of India). She has qualified as an Advocate in India and worked as an in-house counsel in the first two years of her professional life in an Oil and Gas exploration company, Government of Gujarat. She passed out of ILS Law College, Pune University in 2013. With an overall experience of over 8 years, she is a regular researcher and publisher in diverse fields of dispute resolution and law in south-east Asia.
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Tariq Khan: Tariq Khan is a seasoned dispute resolution practitioner having a strong background in corporate and commercial laws. He was appointed as the Partner of a prominent law firm Advani and Co., New Delhi in 2021 and is currently the Registrar of the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre (IAMC), Hyderabad. He is also an arbitrator, SIMC Specialist Mediator and member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb,UK).
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Laila Ollapally: Laila Ollapally is the Founder of CAMP Arbitration and Mediation Practice. She has practiced as an advocate for over 3 decades in the Supreme Court of India and the High Court of Karnataka. Since 2014, she has been a full-time mediator. She is also a Founding Coordinator of the Bangalore Mediation Centre (BMC), Court Annexed Mediation Program of the High Court of Karnataka. She is a senior Mediator and Master Trainer at BMC. Ms. Ollapally is also on the Panel of Mediators of the Singapore International Mediation Centre, American Arbitration Association- International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR) and other International and Domestic Mediation Centres.
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Ritvik M. Kulkarni: Ritvik Kulkarni is a senior associate at Khaitan & Co. He regularly deals with domestic and international commercial disputes and arbitration seated in India, Singapore, and London. Mr. Kullakrni also shares a deep interest in academia and is the founding editor of Koinos, one of India’s well rated blogs on arbitration law.
The session will be moderated by Prof Sahana Ramesh. She currently works as an assistant professor of law at the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru and teaches both elective and core courses on ADR, specific aspects of commercial and investment arbitration, etc. Prior to joining NLSIU, she has also worked as Assistant Professor at the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) University of Law, Hyderabad where she taught Alternative Dispute Resolution, Investment Treaty Law, International Trade Law and Company Law. Prior to this, she also worked at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Mumbai where she dealt primarily with dispute resolution practice that involved advising and representing clients before tribunals and courts. Her primary areas of interest and teaching are international arbitration and international trade law.
Event Details:
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Date: 19th November (Sunday)
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Time: 11am – 1pm
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Mode: The discussion shall be held online over zoom. Kindly register in advance through this link: https://nls-ac-in.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_E-_anzqCQTy94igqSYZCgw
Note that prior registration is mandatory to attend the panel discussion.
For more updates follow the social media handles of ADR Board NLSIU,
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Website-https://www.adrboardnlsiu.com/
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LinkedIN-https://www.linkedin.com/in/alternative-dispute-resolution-adr-board-nlsiu-a50a0916b/
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Instagram-https://instagram.com/adrboard_nlsiu?igshid=ZHozMXU3YTBuMDR2
For any queries about the panel discussion, please feel free to write to adrboard@nls.ac.in or contact the following:
Kartik Sharma (Event Head): +91 762660 72557
Aditya Singh (Event Head): +91 63986 50182
Siddhant Pengoriya (Convenor, ADR Board): +91 98117 28043
Shruti Jain (Co-Convenor, ADR Board): +91 96548 23819
