*(1) A suit, which does not contemplate any urgent interim relief under this Act, shall not be instituted unless the plaintiff exhausts the remedy of preinstitution mediation in accordance with such manner and procedure as may be prescribed by rules made by the Central Government.
(2) The Central Government may, by notification, authorise the Authorities constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 (39 of 1987), for the purposes of pre-institution mediation.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 (39 of 1987), the Authority authorised by the Central Government under sub-section (2) 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):
Provided that the period of mediation may be extended for a further period of two months with the consent of the parties:
Provided further that, the period during which the parties remained occupied with the pre-institution mediation, such period shall not be computed for the purpose of limitation under the Limitation Act, 1963 (36 of 1963).
(4) If the parties to the commercial dispute arrive at a settlement, the same shall be reduced into writing and shall be signed by the parties to the dispute and the mediator.
(5) The settlement arrived at under this section shall have the same status and effect as if it is an arbitral award on agreed terms under sub-section (4) of section 30 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (26 of 1996).
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* Ins. by s. 11, ibid. (w.e.f. 3-5-2018).
Section 3 Constitution of Commercial Courts
Section 3A Designation of Commercial Appellate Courts
Section 4 Constitution of Commercial Division of High Court
Section 5 Constitution of Commercial Appellate Division
Section 6 Jurisdiction of Commercial Court
Section 7 Jurisdiction of Commercial Divisions of High Courts
Section 8 Bar against revision application or petition against an interlocutory order
Section 10 Jurisdiction in respect of arbitration matters
Section 11 Bar of jurisdiction of Commercial Courts and Commercial Divisions
Section 12 Determination of Specified Value
Section 12A Pre-Institution Mediation and Settlement
Section 13 Appeals from decrees of Commercial Courts and Commercial Divisions
Section 14 Expeditious disposal of appeals
Section 15 Transfer of pending cases
Section 16 Amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 in its application to commercial disputes
Section 18 Power of High Court to issue directions
Section 19 Infrastructure facilities
Section 20 Training and continuous education
Section 21 Act to have overriding effect
Section 21A Power of Central Government to make rules