Pre-Institution Mediation: The One Place Mediation Is Compulsory

In one line

A commercial suit that does not need an urgent interim order cannot be filed at all until the plaintiff has tried mediation, and a plaint filed without it must be rejected.

In exam wording: section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act 2015, inserted by the Commercial Courts (Amendment) Act 2018 with effect from 3 May 2018, requires a plaintiff who does not contemplate urgent interim relief to exhaust the remedy of pre-institution mediation before instituting a suit.

Why this is the exception to everything else in the Module

Every other form of ADR in this subject depends on consent. A conciliation cannot start without a written acceptance, chapter 550. A Lok Adalat can only record what the parties agree, chapter 120. Even an arbitration rests on an agreement, chapter 230.

Section 12A is different. It makes mediation a condition precedent to the right to sue. A plaintiff who has not tried it does not get through the door.

And it is the clearest illustration of a point chapter 10 makes: "alternative" does not mean optional.

Section 12A(1): the requirement

A suit, which does not contemplate any urgent interim relief under this Act, shall not be instituted unless the plaintiff exhausts the remedy of pre-institution mediation in accordance with such manner and procedure as may be prescribed by rules made by the Central Government.

Three elements.

"A suit ... under this Act." It applies to a commercial dispute of a Specified Value under the Commercial Courts Act, not to civil suits generally.

"Which does not contemplate any urgent interim relief." This is the exception and it is where the litigation is. A plaintiff who genuinely needs an urgent interim order may file at once. A plaintiff who pleads urgency to escape mediation is doing something the courts examine closely.

"Shall not be instituted unless the plaintiff exhausts the remedy." Not "should try", but exhausts. The plaintiff must go through the process; it is not enough to have offered.

Section 12A(2): who conducts it

The Central Government may, by notification, authorise the Authorities constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 for the purposes of pre-institution mediation.

This is why the chapter belongs to Module I as much as Module III. The mediation is not run by a private mediator or a commercial institution: it is run by the legal services authorities whose constitution chapters 40 to 60 set out, under the machinery Module I teaches. The Government confirmed the same thing to the Lok Sabha in February 2026, describing the mechanism as one under which the parties must first exhaust pre-institution mediation before approaching the court.

Section 12A(3): the time limits

Notwithstanding anything contained in the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987, the Authority shall complete the process of mediation within a period of three months from the date of application made by the plaintiff under sub-section (1).