Mediation council soon; plans afoot to amend arbitration law: Meghwal

New Delhi, Oct 31 (PTI) Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Friday said the government is making efforts to make India a hub of international arbitration and that progress has been made in setting up a mediation council.

He suggested that the formation of an arbitration council may have to wait though steps have been taken in that direction.

A proposed amendment to section 34 of the arbitration law and a Supreme Court observation on company directors have made the government refer the issue to a committee, and a similar plan to set up an arbitration council will soon take off.

Addressing a conference on arbitration and mediation, Meghwal said, "We are moving fast in that direction (of setting up a mediation council)." Recently, Attorney General R Venkataramani cited a human resource crunch as the reason behind the delay in setting up the mediation council, two years after Parliament passed the Mediation Act.

The top law officer said there is a problem today in many such statutes becoming functional due to the human resource crunch.

The Mediation Act proposes setting up the Mediation Council of India to regulate mediators. Its other functions would include registering mediators, recognising mediation service providers and mediation institutes.

The law also lists disputes that are fit or not fit for mediation. PTI NAB RC