N. Jayaramachandran v. S. Sundaresan
Background
The appellant and respondent were in a civil dispute that had reached the Supreme Court after the High Court of Madras had decided a Civil Revision Petition against the appellant in December 2014. When the matter came up before the Supreme Court in March 2017, the Court, on its own suggestion, referred the parties to the Mediation Centre attached to the Madras High Court to explore an amicable settlement.
Decision Breakdown
The Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre, Madras reported that the parties had successfully settled their dispute, and a signed Memorandum of Compromise dated 11 April 2017 was placed before the Court. The Supreme Court granted leave to appeal and then finally disposed of both appeals strictly in terms of that Memorandum of Compromise, which was made part of the Court's order. The Court specifically appreciated the efforts of the mediator, Ms. V. Ahalya, and closed all pending applications with no order as to costs.
Lesson Learnt
The Supreme Court actively encourages mediation as a route to end long-running civil litigation, and once parties sign a mediated settlement, the Court will typically convert that compromise directly into its final, binding order rather than deciding the underlying dispute on merits.