Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Where it appears to the Court that the dispute between the parties may be settled and there exists elements of settlement which may be acceptable to the parties, the Court may-- (a) refer the dispute to arbitration, and thereafter, the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (26 of 1996) shall apply as if the proceedings for arbitration were referred for settlement under the provisions of that Act; or (b) refer the parties to mediation, to the court-annexed mediation centre or any other mediation service provider or any mediator, as per the option of the parties, and thereafter the provisions of the Mediation Act, 2023 shall apply as if the proceedings for mediation were referred for settlement under the provisions of that Act; or (c) refer the dispute to Lok Adalat, in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 20 of Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 (39 of 1987) and thereafter, all other provisions of that Act shall apply in respect of the dispute; (d) effect compromise between the parties and shall follow such procedure as deemed fit for judicial settlement.] Sub-heading "Arbitration" omitted by Act 32 of 2023 dt. 15/09/2023., S. 59 and Sch. IV(i) (w.e.f. the date to be notified). Substituted by Act 32 of 2023, S.59 and Sch.IV(ii) (w.e.f. the date to be notified). Prior to substitution it read as: "Settlement of disputes outside the Court.-- (1) Where it appears to the Court that there exist elements of a settlement which may be acceptable to the parties, the Court shall formulate the terms of settlement and give them to the parties for their observations and after receiving the observations of the parties, the Court may reformulate the terms of a possible settlement and refer the same for-- (a) arbitration; (b) conciliation; (c) judicial settlement including settlement through Lok Adalat; or (d) mediation. (2) Where a dispute has been referred-- (a) for arbitration or conciliation, the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (26 of 1996) shall apply as if the proceedings for arbitration or conciliation were referred for settlement under the provisions of that Act; (b) to Lok Adalat, the Court shall refer the same to the Lok Adalat in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 20 of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 (39 of 1987) and all other provisions of that Act shall apply in respect of the dispute so referred to the Lok Adalat; (c) for judicial settlement, the Court shall refer the same to a suitable institution or person and such institution or person shall be deemed to be a Lok Adalat and all the provisions of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 (39 of 1987) shall apply as if the dispute were referred to a Lok Adalat under the provisions of that Act; (d) for mediation, the Court shall effect a compromise between the parties and shall follow such procedure as may be prescribed."