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Smt. Kalpana Majumder & Ors. v. Smt. Lakshmi Priya Shaw & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 616Decided 17 Jul 2018
Civil Appeal No. 6741 of 2018
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul

Background

The parties had been locked in civil litigation over disputed property since 2002, and over the years the dispute had spawned five separate pending criminal cases between them. When the matter reached the Supreme Court, the Court noted the possibility of settlement and referred the parties to a trained mediator, who spent more than 35 hours helping them negotiate.

Decision Breakdown

The mediation succeeded, and the parties signed a Deed of Settlement dated 16 July 2018, which they placed before the Court along with an application for directions in terms of it. The Supreme Court quashed all five pending criminal cases between the parties in view of the settlement, directed the Sub-Registrar, Alipore to register transfer of the suit property in favour of the appellants (at the stamp duty rate applicable in 2002, given the long pendency), declared a specified 2005 Deed of Conveyance between other respondents cancelled as prayed, and directed the parties to abide by the settlement's terms. The appeal was disposed of accordingly, with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

Court-annexed mediation can fully and finally resolve even decades-old, multi-pronged civil and criminal litigation between the same parties: a negotiated settlement can lead to related criminal cases being quashed alongside the civil dispute being closed.

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

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