Former CJI BR Gavai urged that mediation in India must shift from elite legal circles to community-level access, with local-language mediators and safeguards against bias, ensuring justice becomes accessible, affordable, and inclusive for every citizen.
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MUMBAI: Former Chief Justice of India BR Gavai has called for transforming mediation from an elite legal mechanism into a grassroots, citizen-centric system accessible to people across India. Speaking at the International Mediation and Dispute Resolution Conference 2025 held at DY Patil University, School of Law, Navi Mumbai, on Saturday, Justice Gavai emphasized the need to embed mediation within communities to make it a true alternative dispute-resolution pathway for ordinary citizens.
Justice Gavai urged that mediation must operate outside court complexes and large metropolitan centres if it is to serve its intended purpose.
“Mediation must move out of elite legal spaces and become a common, approachable mechanism for everyday disputes,”
he said.
He advocated for:
- Community mediation centres
- Physically accessible and culturally familiar spaces
- Free or low-cost mediation services
According to him, restricting mediation to formal legal institutions risks excluding the majority of India’s population.
Highlighting linguistic inequality, Justice Gavai stressed that dispute resolution cannot function effectively if participants are forced to speak in dominant languages such as English or Hindi.
“Expecting a farmer in Vidarbha or a forest dweller in Koderma to narrate their grievances in English or even Hindi is unrealistic and unjust,”
he stated.
He called for building a network of trained mediators fluent in regional languages and street-level dialects, ensuring a democratic environment for dispute resolution.
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Justice Gavai pointed out that mediation does not occur in a vacuum: social power dynamics often influence outcomes.
“A woman in a matrimonial dispute, a Dalit labourer seeking wages, or a transgender person facing discrimination may carry a structural disadvantage,”
he said.
He recommended:
- Training mediators to identify bias and unequal bargaining power
- Providing independent legal assistance
- Excluding mediation in cases involving violence, coercion, or intimidation
The aim, he said, must be justice, not mere settlement.
Speaking later at another event organised by Loksatta, Justice Gavai defended the Supreme Court’s August 1, 2024 judgment that upheld the identification of the creamy layer within SC/ST communities to ensure equitable distribution of reservation benefits. He noted that despite criticism within his community, the decision aligns with the objective of true social upliftment.
He clarified that:
- Higher judiciary appointments do not fall under the reservation systems
- Allegations that he benefited personally from the reservation are misinformed
“For constitutional offices of the High Court or Supreme Court, there is no reservation. Persons from this category have to compete with others,”
he said.
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