Revision summary
ADR grew because regular courts were slow and commercial India needed recognisable awards. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, is the commercial spine, UNCITRAL-aligned. Section 89 CPC and legal-services lok adalats push settlement inside and beside courts. Conciliation, family counselling, and consumer mediation widen the menu. ADR fails if consent is fake or if arbitration merely copies High Court delay.
Model answer
Introduction
Alternative dispute redressal in India grew because ordinary civil dockets could not give timely, cheap, and relationship-preserving justice. A note must show statutory emergence—from legal-aid lok adalats to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act—and how courts now push parties toward mediation, conciliation, and arbitration before a full trial.
Body
Why ADR emerged
- Colonial procedure and a judge-shortage produced delay that made a decree often worthless for a small claimant.
- Commercial globalisation after 1991 needed awards that foreign investors would recognise; the 1996 Act aligned India with the UNCITRAL model.
- Family, consumer, labour, and village disputes often need a settlement culture more than a winner-takes-all decree.
- Article 39A and the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, treated access to justice as including forums outside the regular bench.
Main mechanisms in use
- Arbitration: private tribunal, party autonomy, limited court interference after the 1996 Act and the 2015/2019 commercial-court amendments; used heavily in infrastructure and company contracts.
- Conciliation: a neutral helps parties settle; the 1996 Act gives conciliation agreements the force of an arbitral award on status.
- Mediation: court-annexed and private mediation, later given a dedicated Union statute in 2023, but already in use through Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure after the 1999–2002 amendments and Salem Advocate Bar guidance.
- Lok Adalats: statutory under the Legal Services Authorities Act; compromise awards are final and deemed decrees, strong for motor-accident, bank-recovery, and petty compoundable matters.
- Other use: consumer mediation, family-court counselling, Industrial Disputes conciliation officers, Gram Nyayalayas, and online dispute resolution in e-commerce.
Limits of use
- Unequal bargaining, poor mediator quality, and “forced” referrals can reproduce power, not peace.
- Arbitration can become as slow and costly as High Court litigation if stay applications and fee disputes explode.
- Criminal and constitutional rights disputes remain largely outside classic ADR; plea bargaining is a different, limited criminal tool.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD D[Delay cost 39A] --> ADR[ADR in India] ADR --> AR[Arbitration 1996] ADR --> M[Mediation S.89] ADR --> L[Lok Adalat 1987] ADR --> C[Conciliation labour family]
Conclusion
ADR emerged in India as a statutory and judicial answer to delay, cost, and the needs of commerce and legal aid. Its use now runs from lok adalats and Section 89 references to a full arbitration statute; it works when consent is real and the award is executable, not when it is only a dumping ground for the regular list.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Describe the composition and functions of Central Bureau of Investigation (C.B.I.) in India.
Next question in the 2018 paper (Q20). View answer →
-
Is a lok adalat award appealable like a trial decree?
Generally no. A lok adalat award on compromise is final. That finality is the speed bargain; parties must understand it before they sign.
-
Does ADR replace High Courts?
No. Courts still appoint arbitrators, set aside awards on narrow grounds, and try cases that cannot or should not settle. ADR is a complement, not a substitute constitution.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2025 · Q2 · UPGS2 · 8 marks
How does Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) strengthen efficient governance and enhance the effectiveness of the justice delivery system in India? Analyze. -
2025 · Q17 · UPGS2 · 12 marks
Critically evaluate the need for coordination among support institutions, donors and institutional stakeholders in the development process and practical realities. -
2023 · Q11 · UPGS2 · 12 marks
Critically examine the increasing powers and role of the Prime Minister. How does it impact other institutions? -
2023 · Q13 · UPGS2 · 12 marks
What alternative mechanisms of dispute resolution have emerged in recent years? How far have they been effective? -
2020 · Q18 · UPGS2 · 12 marks
Despite a cordial Mamallapuram Summit between Prime Minister Modi and the Chinese President, the dispute on the Line of Actual Control has deepened after a gap of several years. What do you think are the reasons behind it?
More from this paper
Q1 · UPSC Mains 2018 · UPGS2 · 8 marks
Why is India opposed to mediation on Kashmir?
Indian Constitution
India treats Jammu and Kashmir as an integral Union subject after accession in 1947. Simla 1972 and later bilateral texts require peaceful settlement without a mediator. Mediation would internationalise what New Delhi now frames as an internal constitutional and security issue. Pakistan is a counterpart for talks on terror and peace, not a co-sovereign over Indian territory. India therefore rejects UN, great-power, or other good-offices formulas that write a Kashmir settlement.
Q2 · UPSC Mains 2018 · UPGS2 · 8 marks
Critically examine the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
India and its neighbours
The ICJ is the UN’s principal judicial organ under the Charter and the ICJ Statute. Contentious cases lie only between states and only with consent via special agreement, treaty, or optional clause. The Court rules on its own jurisdiction, as in Jadhav under the consular Optional Protocol. Advisory opinions go to authorised UN organs and are not binding judgments. Enforcement depends on states and the Security Council; individuals are not on trial at the ICJ.
Q3 · UPSC Mains 2018 · UPGS2 · 8 marks
Throw light on the challenges and problems of farmers and the agriculture sector in Uttar Pradesh. Suggest measures for improvement.
Social sector services
Uttar Pradesh leads in foodgrain output but farm incomes stay low on tiny holdings and uneven water. Eastern floods and Bundelkhand droughts sit beside western groundwater stress and cane-payment delays. Paddy–wheat lock-in and thin mandi–FPO reach keep farmers as price-takers. Remedies are last-mile irrigation, statutory cane dues, FPO and e-NAM markets, and a shift to pulses, millets, milk, and processing. Land-lease clarity and working crop insurance must travel with those measures.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.