HC takes mediation route to settle disputes of wife & mistress

But for the Jharkhand High Court's persuasion and referring a batch of seven cases lodged against each other by the wife and live-in lover of a city businessman to be settled through mediation, the latter and her two daughters would have wandered from pillar to post to get their due for years to come.

A bench of Justice Anant Bijay Singh while hearing a batch of criminal cases filed for anticipatory bail recently thought it fit to give them a chance to settle their disputes fought fiercely for last one year involving relatives and friends from both sides and referred them to Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority (JHALSA). Sensing the complexity of the cases, the JHALSA nominated three mediators, P N Singh, L K Giri and Neelam Shekhar to reach at a negotitated settlement.

The disputes between Rashmi, the legally wedded wife of Rajesh Kumar (name changed) and her 'sautan' Sunita Singh (name changed) began a year back when her brother Prakash Kumar (name changed), posted on Facebook some pictures of the live-in partner's  relationship with his brother in-law. Enraged, Sunita filed a criminal case against Prakash.

Rajesh raised objections to his live-in partner's action and wanted her to withdraw the case. But she did not yield and in a fit of anger, Rajesh allegedly committed suicide.

Then ensued a series of cases. The brother of Rajesh's wife, Prakash Kumar (name changed) filed a case of murder against Sunita and others for the death of Rajesh. In retaliation, Sunita also filed a case of beating against Rashmi and her brother. Thereafter, Nitu (name changed), sister of Rajesh filed another case of eve teasing and also levelled other serious charges against Ramesh, the boyfriend of Sunita's sister, who had also jumped into the fray in the meantime. In all, seven cases were lodged against each other at Sukhdeonagar police station and Mahila thana.

However, good sense prevailed on them when Justice Singh held a meeting with them, persuading and counselling them for the right course of action. They agreeed for a negotiated settlement and end the dispute for once and all time. "They agreed to adopt a path which was good for their future, instead of fighting in the court room to prove each other wrong in order to ensure their rights," pointed out L K Giri, one of the mediators.

Under the agreenmt, the first wife will pay a sum of Rs 25 lakh to Rajesh's live-in partner and his two daughters for their upkeep and lead a peaceful and graceful life. She will also not stake any claim to the flat, costing around Rs 50 lakh in which Sunita  had been living alongwith her paramour and two daughters.

Further, the boyfriend of Rajesh's mistress' sister, Ramesh will return a gold necklace to Rashmi weighing around 68 gm purchased either from Kalyan Jwellers, PC Jwellers or Tanisque jewllers. He also agreed to pay back Rs 11 lakh to Rajesh's sister Nitu which was due to her and her husband under business dealings. "It was really a tricky case to resolve," said P N Singh, one of the mediators. "We took time to decide as from where to begin because all the parties had their own story to tell," he said.

"Otherwise also, the two daughters of Rajesh had rights over properties left behind after his demise. So, it was good that they agreed to resolve their dispute amicably," he pointed out.

Notably, Justice Singh, trusted with dealing the criminal cases in the high court, has taken extra pains and used the tool of mediation successfully to settle a large number of cases in recent months. "He has in a way established that most of the criminal cases were actually civil disputes and dealing them mechanically would have been a travesty of justice. The mediated settlement has not only offloaded

judiciary of unnecessary cases but also saved several families and individuals in from getting ruined the long run," pointed out a lawyer associated with JHALSA.