Justice Sikri on Med-Arb Clauses: Why Businesses Fail to Adopt Hybrid Dispute Resolution

The Commercial Mediation Conclave 2026, organised by The PACT and Poovaya & Co., hosted a discussion between retired Supreme Court judge Arjan Kumar Sikri and Jonathan Rodrigues of The Mission Mediation Podcast on med-arb clauses.

Rodrigues noted that most commercial disputes involve multiple issues, with only a few genuinely requiring arbitration while others could be resolved through mediation if parties had included such clauses upfront. He questioned why clients and lawyers rarely incorporate med-arb clauses despite their recognised benefits.

Justice Sikri traced the gap to resistance that emerged when Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure introduced court-referred mediation in 2002. Lawyers initially viewed alternative dispute resolution with hostility, fearing revenue loss. Though this opposition has largely dissipated over two decades, he suggested implementation lags behind acceptance.