Court solutions in family disputes often artificial, may feel like justice imposed on parties: SC judge

Supreme Court judge Justice N V Anjaria on Sunday, September 27, said solutions reached through courts in family disputes often become artificial, leaving parties feeling that justice has been imposed on them and, in such cases, can become “illusory” and amount to injustice.

Addressing the concluding session of the Eastern Zone Regional Conference on ‘ADR vs Adjudication in Family Disputes: Challenges and Way Forward’ in Guwahati, Justice Anjaria said mediation was the most suitable alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism for family disputes.

“Family disputes are human disputes arising out of human sentiments and human sensitivity,” he said, adding that mediation could provide a more appropriate approach to resolving such conflicts.

Justice Anjaria said solutions arrived at in family disputes through courts or judge-made law could sometimes become artificial.

“In many cases the parties would feel that justice is foisted upon them and when the justice is foisted upon or imposed it is illusory... and it partakes injustice,” he said.

He also referred to the rise in family litigation and said the increasing number of disputes within families had been recognised as a concern for several years.

“Forget our sanskar, the sanskar of Bharat, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, now we are struggling to keep even a single family united and one,” Justice Anjaria said.

He noted that participants at the two-day conference had discussed ways to address the growing number of family disputes and increase the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

Justice Anjaria said resolving family disputes was not merely a legal exercise but also involved a process of social engineering, requiring sensitivity to the human relationships involved.

The conference focused on the challenges involved in choosing between traditional adjudication and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in family disputes and ways to strengthen mediation as a means of resolving such cases.