"Government is the biggest litigant and there could be a system by which mediation could be effectively used for settling disputes where government and its agencies are a party. Some innovative thinking in this aspect is necessary," she said.
As the courts, including the Supreme Court and 21 High Courts, battle over 3.5 crore pending cases before them, the government has been identified as the largest litigant.
Patil stressed that mediation should be available at every level, most particularly at the district level to enable easy access to this option for contesting parties.
"In the rapidly changing contemporary world, the methods adopted to resolve increasingly complex issues will determine the maturity and stability of the system," she said addressing a national seminar on mediation.
The programme was also attended by Chief Justice of India Justice S H Kapadia and Law Minister Salman Khurshid.
Speaking on the occasion, Khurshid said computerisation of courts was one way to help reduce pendency of cases. While appreciating computerisation of the Delhi High Court, he hoped that other courts will rely on emerging technologies for case management.
He said besides computerisation, there was a need to "re-engineer" the present process to bring down the number cases.
