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Govind Prasad Sharma & Ors. v. Doon Valley Officers Cooperative Housing Society Ltd.

Civil Appeal · 2017 INSC 793Decided 23 Aug 2017
Civil Appeal No. 10786 of 2017
Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman · Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul

Background

During conciliation proceedings between the parties over a property dispute, a government agency had prepared a demarcation report. The respondent later sought to introduce this report as evidence in subsequent court proceedings, but the appellants objected on the ground that Sections 75 and 81 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 protect the confidentiality of conciliation proceedings and bar certain conciliation-related material from being used as evidence afterward. The High Court had allowed the report to be admitted into evidence.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that Section 75's confidentiality obligation covers "all matters relating to" conciliation proceedings, a deliberately broad phrase, and since the demarcation report originated solely within the conciliation process, it fell within that protected confidentiality even though it did not fit neatly into one of the four specific categories listed in Section 81. Permitting its use as evidence would undermine the very purpose of conciliation, which depends on parties being able to speak and share material freely without fear it will later be used against them. The Court allowed the appeal and set aside the High Court's order, while leaving it open to the respondent to independently obtain a fresh demarcation report through proper (non-conciliation) channels.

Lesson Learnt

Anything generated during a court-referred conciliation or settlement process is confidential and generally cannot later be used as evidence against a party, even if it does not fall neatly within the law's specifically listed categories, because free and candid settlement talks depend on that protection.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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