Govt to bring law to provide forum for dispute resolution

NEW DELHI: Government will soon table an amended bill for creation of an institutional forum aimed at resolving disputes at the panchyat level before they reach the formal justice system without eliminating any party's right to go to court in case of disagreement.

"A draft Nyaya Panchayats Bill had been forwarded to the state governments and union territories and the central ministries concerned for their comments. It has been recast on the basis of their comments and recirculated to them," Minister for Panchayati Raj Mani Shankar Aiyar has said.

The draft bill provides for establishment of Nyaya Panchayats at the village panchayat or cluster of village panchayats level and they are proposed to be constituted through the election of representatives by people residing in the area to which a particular Nyaya Panchayats' jurisdiction extends.

The draft bill defines the civil, criminal and additional jurisdiction of Nyay Panchayats, Aiyar said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha yesterday.

The new forum would aim at resolving disputes before they reach the formal justice system without eliminating the right to go to court in case of disagreement of any party with the outcome of the alternative dispute resolution mechanism, he said.