Lawyers seek recall of rapist case referred to mediation

A group of advocates, including some members of Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre, today appealed to Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Sanjay Kishan Kaul to "recall" the case of a rapist of a girl, which was referred to the mediation centre by a single judge.
In a letter to the CJ, the lawyers, including senior advocates Sri Ram Panju and Geetha Ramaseshan, said rape was a sexual violence and sending such a serious case for mediation "is highly inappropriate."
Justice P Devadass had on June 23 referred the case of a rapist, who was awarded seven years imprisonment by a trial court, to the mediation centre to settle the matter taking note of the future of the victim, now a mother of a child.

Granting bail to the rapist while considering his appeal, the Judge had said he had already referred a similar matter in February for mediation which has yielded a good result and nearing happy resolution.
Referring to the judge's order, the advocates in their letter said the case was at the stage of admission of the appeal and the victim was not a party to the proceedings.
The observations made in the judgment with regard to the victim such as "she has become mother of a child" and "she is nobody's wife" had been made without ascertaining her wishes, they contended in the letter.

The advocates further said that the order of the Judge did not consider the basic principles of mediation that both parties must be willing to come to the process.

They also said cases of serious criminal offences that are socially dangerous shall not be referred for mediation.
Being advocates of Mediation Centre at the high court, the advocates said they were "deeply disturbed" by the reference made by the Judge "which will create a wrong impression of the mediation process."
Hence, they requested the Chief Justice to recall the case.
They also requested the Chief Justice to issue specific guidelines on the kind of cases that ought not to be referred to Mediation Centres.