SC Judge Nagarathna Calls for ADR-Adjudication Integration in Family Disputes

The Supreme Court’s Committee for Family Court Matters has begun a two-day regional conference in Guwahati to examine how India’s family justice system can deliver faster, more sensitive and meaningful resolution of disputes without compromising legal rights or judicial safeguards.

The Eastern Zone Regional Conference on “ADR vs Adjudication in Family Disputes: Challenges and Way Forward” is being organised with the Gauhati High Court on September 26 and 27. It brings together judges, judicial officers, senior advocates, mediators and experts to examine how Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) can complement conventional adjudication in family matters.

Speaking at the inaugural session, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, chairperson of the Supreme Court’s Committee for Family Court Matters, said ADR mechanisms are not intended to replace courts but should work alongside adjudication. She said ADR can offer speed, privacy and confidentiality, while the appropriate method of dispute resolution should depend on the nature of each case.

Justice Nagarathna warned that speedy resolution cannot come at the cost of meaningful and just outcomes. Delays in family disputes, she said, can aggravate existing inequalities in familial relationships. She also noted that the less adversarial environment of ADR may, in suitable cases, create opportunities for reconciliation.

Highlighting the scale of the challenge, she cited October 2024 pendency figures of 70,365 cases in Bihar, 36,792 in Odisha, 7,399 in Assam and 149 in Sikkim, stressing that strategic use of ADR could help reduce pendency. She said a system integrating ADR with adjudication in a way that delivers speed without compromising justice “is yet to be evolved.”

Justice Nagarathna also underlined the need to protect women's legal rights, saying “a woman's bargaining position is worth precisely what her legal entitlement is worth.” She expressed hope that the conference would produce practical and actionable recommendations.

The conference is also examining domestic violence, senior citizens’ welfare, marriage and divorce, restitution of conjugal rights, child custody, shared parenting, visitation, maintenance, alimony and property disputes, besides Family Court infrastructure and human resources.

The Department of Justice dashboard currently lists 822 functional Family Courts. Uttar Pradesh has 189, Madhya Pradesh 62, Maharashtra 51, Rajasthan 50, and Karnataka and Tamil Nadu 40 each. Assam has seven, Andhra Pradesh 17 and Telangana 23.

Pending cases include 3,94,877 in Uttar Pradesh, 1,11,667 in Kerala, 76,016 in Punjab, 70,365 in Bihar, 66,373 in Maharashtra and 63,746 in Madhya Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh has 14,349 pending cases and Telangana 18,583.

The discussions also come against the backdrop of the Mediation Act, 2023, which provides a statutory framework for mediation, including pre-litigation mediation. However, issues such as domestic violence and unequal bargaining power underline the need for appropriate safeguards.

Child custody, shared parenting and visitation are key areas of discussion, alongside specialised counselling, mediators, psychologists, digital case management and improved infrastructure.

The conference is part of the Supreme Court’s wider judicial-reform and mediation efforts, including SAMADHAN SAMAROH 2026, with the broader objective of developing a Family Court system where ADR can reduce unnecessary conflict while adjudication remains available to protect legal rights and vulnerable parties.