Centre Establishes Mediation Council of India Under Mediation Act, 2023

New Delhi: The Central Government has notified the establishment of the Mediation Council of India, exercising powers under sub-section (1) of Section 31 of the Mediation Act, 2023. The notification, issued by the Department of Legal Affairs on 27th August, 2026, states that the Council shall have its head office at Delhi.

The notification reads:

"In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 31 of the Mediation Act, 2023 (32 of 2023), the Central Government hereby establishes a Council for the purposes of the said Act, to be called as the Mediation Council of India, which shall have its head office at Delhi."

Under Section 31 of the Act, the Council is to be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, empowered to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, to enter into contracts, and to sue and be sued in its own name. Further it also reads that the Council may, in consultation with the Central Government, establish offices at other places in India and abroad, in addition to its head office at Delhi.

Section 32 of the Act, which governs the composition of the Council, provides for a Chairperson and two Members appointed by the Central Government on the basis of knowledge and experience in mediation, alternative dispute resolution, law, public affairs or administration, along with the Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice, and the Secretary in the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, or their respective representatives not below the rank of Joint Secretary, as ex officio Members. The Chief Executive Officer of the Council is to serve as Member-Secretary, ex officio, while a representative of a recognised body of commerce and industry, chosen by the Central Government, is to serve as a Part-Time Member.

Members other than ex officio Members are to hold office for a term of four years and are eligible for re-appointment, subject to an upper age limit of seventy years for the Chairperson and sixty-seven years for other Members. Where the Chairperson is appointed on a part-time basis, at least one of the Members appointed for knowledge and experience in mediation or ADR laws is required to be a Full-Time Member.

The notification has been issued by Mohd. Muqeem, Joint Secretary and Legal Adviser, and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii).