Punjab and Haryana High Court explores community mediation to resolve neighbourhood disputes

Good fences make good neighbours. But what happens in places where there are no fences at all — only invisible lines of tension, old feuds, and neighbours at each other’s throats over water taps, cattle trespass, or even loud wedding drums? It is often words — not walls — that decide whether neighbours remain friends or turn bitter foes.

It is precisely for such communities that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has now turned its gaze to community mediation — a remedy written into the Mediation Act, 2023, but lying unused so far. Acting on its own, the high court’s Chief Justice Sheel Nagu has initiated a suo motu public interest litigation to explore why the grassroots tool has not taken root despite its promise of keeping peace where tempers flare quickest.

Taking up the matter on the judicial side, the bench of Chief Justice Nagu and Sumeet Goel issued notice of motion to Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and the Centre through the chief secretaries for further consideration.        

A note in the matter explains how the Mediation Act envisions resolving disputes. “Community mediation holds significant potential for resolving interpersonal disputes, such as those between neighbours, families and communities. Despite being highly effective in delivering inexpensive and speedy resolution of disputes at the grassroots level, the community mediation has not been enforced so far,” the note says.

Delving into the reasons, the note observes that disputes inevitably arise between groups or communities in every society, which can be settled through community mediation programmes, “nipping the conflict in the bud, leading to harmony and peace in the society.”

The idea resonates deeply in a region where “khap panchayats” — informal assemblies of village elders — have long held sway in settling local matters. “The khap panchayats in the rural areas play significant social influence within the community it represents and exercise a form of social governance in their respective areas,” the note adds, making it clear that community mediation, if woven properly into the fabric of such social structures, can offer a lawful and peaceful alternative to parallel systems of justice.

“In this view of the matter, the Chief Justice has been pleased to order that the same be treated as suo motu public interest litigation,” the note concludes.

Punjab