Mediation in India: Matrimonial Referrals and the 120-Day Process

If an Indian court refers your divorce, custody, maintenance, or related matrimonial dispute to mediation, a trained neutral will sit with both spouses and their lawyers and try to help you reach an agreement within 120 days, extendable by another 60 with mutual consent. Court-mandated mediation in India for matrimonial cases runs on two legal tracks: Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, which lets a judge send a case to mediation whenever settlement looks possible,¹ and the Mediation Act, 2023, which now sets uniform rules for how the process is conducted and makes a signed settlement enforceable like a court decree.² You are not required to settle. You are required to show up and participate in good faith.

When a Court Can Send Your Case to Mediation

Under Section 89 CPC, if the court identifies elements of a possible agreement, it can formulate preliminary terms, share them with the parties, and refer the matter to mediation, arbitration, conciliation, or a Lok Adalat.¹ Section 7 of the Mediation Act, 2023, adds that the court can make this referral at any stage of the proceeding, even after evidence has begun, and can pass interim orders to protect either party while mediation is underway.²

For matrimonial matters specifically, Section 23 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, directs courts to make every effort toward reconciliation before granting a divorce and gives judges discretion to adjourn proceedings and refer the parties to a mediator. Similar reconciliation provisions appear under other personal law statutes.

Matrimonial Disputes Courts Commonly Refer

Mediation is used across most types of matrimonial litigation:

Divorce petitions, both contested and by mutual consent, where the aim is either reconciliation or an amicable resolution of the terms of separation.
Restitution of conjugal rights, where one spouse seeks to resume cohabitation.
Maintenance and alimony, which lend themselves to negotiation because the amount, frequency, and duration can be shaped around each household’s finances.
Child custody and visitation, where mediators help parents build parenting plans covering schedules, education, healthcare, and holidays, with the child’s welfare as the central consideration.

Custody arrangements the parents help design themselves tend to be the ones that hold up over time. A judge working from affidavits and cross-examination rarely sees the whole picture that two parents working through a facilitated conversation can.

A Caution Where There Has Been Domestic Violence

Indian law does not blanket-prohibit mediation in matrimonial cases where domestic violence or a Section 498A IPC complaint is in the background. Courts have referred such cases to mediation and, in some, allowed the criminal proceedings to be quashed after a successful settlement. If you have experienced abuse, raise this with your lawyer before agreeing to participate. The power imbalance can undermine the voluntariness that makes mediation legitimate, and a mediator who recognizes a significant imbalance has discretion to terminate the process.

What to Bring to the First Session

Preparation changes how productive the sessions are. Gather:

Government-issued identification such as your Aadhaar card or passport.
The marriage certificate, original or certified copy.
Financial records: salary slips, income tax returns for the last three years, bank statements, and documents for any jointly held assets or liabilities. These are essential if maintenance, alimony, or property division is on the table.
Any existing interim orders, protection orders, or earlier filings.

The court-annexed mediation centre or District Legal Services Authority will give you intake forms asking you to describe the dispute, the points of disagreement, and what you want. Fill them out factually. Describe what happened and what you need rather than assigning blame, and disclose any earlier settlement attempts or counseling.

Think honestly about what you need versus what you want on principle. Consider your realistic alternative if mediation fails: a contested matrimonial trial can run for years. Discuss priorities with your lawyer in advance so you both know which terms are non-negotiable and where there is room to move.

How the Sessions Actually Run

The mediator opens by explaining the ground rules: confidentiality, mutual respect, and the fact that the mediator is not a judge and will not impose a decision. Both parties attend. Lawyers may be present to advise. The mediator then invites each side to describe their perspective without interruption.

From there, the mediator moves between joint sessions and private meetings, sometimes called caucuses. In a private meeting, you can share sensitive information, voice concerns, or discuss fallback positions you would not want to reveal directly to the other side. The mediator uses those conversations to find overlapping interests. A familiar example in matrimonial mediation: one parent cares most about primary custody during the school year, while the other values extended time during holidays. The mediator spots that overlap and builds a framework around it.

Section 15 of the Mediation Act requires the mediator to act independently, neutrally, and impartially, and to protect the voluntariness and confidentiality of the process.² If you feel the mediator is favoring one side, you can raise it or withdraw.

Online Sessions

Section 30 of the Act authorizes online mediation at any stage with written consent from both sides, through video conferencing, audio conferencing, encrypted email, or secure chat rooms.² This matters when spouses live in different cities or when travel is impractical.

Cost

Under Section 25, mediator fees and service provider charges are shared equally between the parties unless they agree otherwise.² Specific amounts are to be prescribed by regulation. Court-annexed mediation centres operating under existing High Court rules have historically provided mediation at minimal or no cost, and those rules continue under the Act’s transitional provisions until new regulations replace them.

The 120-Day Clock

Section 18 requires mediation to be completed within 120 days from the date fixed for the first appearance before the mediator. With consent from both parties, it can be extended by up to 60 days, for a maximum of 180.² If no settlement is reached in that window, mediation automatically terminates and the case returns to court. This is much faster than most contested matrimonial litigation. It also means both sides need to engage seriously from day one. Using mediation to run down the clock just puts you back in court in the same position you started.

What You Say in Mediation Stays in Mediation

Section 22 protects almost everything that happens in the room. Opinions, admissions, apologies, proposals, acceptances, and documents prepared specifically for the mediation are confidential. No audio or video recording is permitted, whether the mediation is in person or online. Neither party can introduce anything communicated during mediation as evidence in any subsequent court or tribunal proceeding, and courts are barred from taking cognizance of such information.² The one exception is the final settlement agreement, which can be disclosed for registration, enforcement, or challenge.

These protections exist for a practical reason. People do not talk honestly about finances, fears, or compromise positions if their words can be weaponized later.

Signing the Settlement and Enforcing It

When both sides agree, the mediator drafts a settlement covering every point of the compromise. Both parties and their lawyers review the document before signing, and the mediator authenticates it. Under Section 27, a signed and authenticated mediated settlement is final and binding and is enforceable under the Code of Civil Procedure in the same manner as a court judgment or decree.²

For court-referred mediation, the mediator submits the settlement report to the referring judge, who schedules a hearing to confirm that both parties agreed voluntarily and that the terms are not unconscionable. The court then passes a compromise decree. You receive a certified copy, which is the enforceable record going forward. If the other side later fails to comply, you can enforce the decree through the usual execution mechanisms available for any court judgment.

The Narrow Grounds for Challenging a Settlement

Once you sign, the exits are limited. Section 28 permits a challenge only on these grounds:

Fraud, where one party was deceived into agreeing.
Corruption, where the process was tainted by improper payments or influence.
Impersonation, where someone participated under a false identity.
Ineligible dispute, where the mediation was conducted in a matter not fit for mediation under Section 6.

A challenge must be filed within 90 days of receiving the settlement. If sufficient cause prevented timely filing, a court can accept a late application for a further 90 days, and no more.² Regretting a term you agreed to is not a ground. This is why careful review with your lawyer before signing matters.

If Mediation Does Not End in Agreement

Mediation terminates in any of three ways: the mediator declares, after consulting with the parties, that further efforts are not justified; a party communicates in writing that they want to opt out; or the 120-day period (plus any extension) runs out without a settlement.²

The mediator then prepares a non-settlement report. That report must not disclose why the parties could not agree or reveal anything about their conduct during the sessions.² Nothing you said or offered during mediation follows you into the resumed court proceeding, which continues with evidence, cross-examination, and arguments as usual.

Your Limitation Period Is Protected

A common worry is that months spent in mediation will eat into the deadline for filing or continuing a lawsuit. Section 29 answers this directly. The entire period from the start of mediation until a non-settlement report is submitted or the mediation is otherwise terminated is excluded from the limitation period for any related legal proceeding, and this provision overrides the Limitation Act, 1963.² The clock stops while you negotiate and starts again only when the process formally ends.

1
India Code. The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
2
The Gazette of India. The Mediation Act, 2023