A controversial social media post has revealed how mediation as a means of dispute resolution is often challenging for litigants and why trained and domain expert mediators are essential to preside over mediation sessions..A Pune district court judge, who was presiding over the mediation between an estranged husband and wife, allegedly made remarks questioning the woman for not wearing a mangalsutra or a bindi."I can see that you are not wearing a mangalsutra or a bindi. If you don’t behave like a married woman, why would your husband show any interest in you," the judge reportedly said.This was revealed through a post on LinkedIn by advocate Ankur R Jahagirdar.The estranged couple had appeared before a judge for mediation of their domestic violence dispute.In his post, Jahagirdar also shared similar details about another case involving a maintenance dispute between a couple in which a sessions judge said,"If a woman is earning well, she will always look for a husband who earns more than her and will never settle for someone who earns less. However, if a man who earns well is looking to marry, he might even marry a maid who washes utensils in his house. Look how flexible men are. You should also show some flexibility. Don’t be so rigid,”.Speaking to Bar & Bench, Jahagirdar said the woman in the second incident broke down due to the environment created by the judge. "With respect to the second incident mentioned in my post, that is my own client and the matter is still pending. When the mediation happened between the parties back in 2023, one of the big reasons why it failed is because the mediator judge made those off hand remarks and was extremely rude and dismissive about the woman’s issues. The client even cried during the mediation because of the environment created by the judge," he said.When this happens, litigants lose trust in mediation, making settlements harder and adding to the justice system’s burden as resolvable cases remain pending due to the mediator’s fault, Jahagirdar added.
