In short. Delhi family courts refer matrimonial disputes to the court-annexed mediation centres in the district court complexes, and to court counsellors, as part of their duty to attempt settlement. Attending is expected; agreeing is not. A settlement covers divorce, alimony, stridhan, custody and pending cases, and is then implemented through a section 13B petition, withdrawals and quashing.
Most people meet mediation without asking for it. A first hearing in the family court at Saket or Tis Hazari ends with an order sending the parties to the mediation centre on a given date, and the client's first question is whether they have to go and what they will be asked to give up. This post answers that, from the referral order to the decree. It is written for both spouses, and for parents and siblings who often sit outside the mediation room and influence what happens in it.
For the wider picture of matrimonial litigation, see our page on family and divorce law. For the general law of mediation, conciliation and Lok Adalats beyond family disputes, see alternate dispute resolution.
- Where
- Court-annexed mediation centres in each Delhi district court complex
- Legal basis
- s.9 Family Courts Act 1984, s.23(2) HMA, s.89 CPC
- Cost
- Court-annexed mediation is generally free for the parties
- Is settlement compulsory
- No. Attendance is expected; agreement is voluntary
When does a Delhi family court send a divorce case to mediation?
Usually at the first or second hearing after both sides appear. Section 9 of the Family Courts Act 1984 puts a duty on the family court to try to bring the parties to a settlement before it decides the case. Section 23(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act asks the court to make every effort to reconcile the parties before granting relief in most divorce cases. Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure lets a court refer a dispute to mediation where it sees elements of a settlement. Delhi's family courts use all three, and referral is now close to routine.
The referral can come at any stage. It often happens again after interim maintenance is decided, when the parties have a clearer idea of the money involved, or after evidence begins and the cost of a long trial becomes real. Maintenance cases under section 144 BNSS, domestic violence cases and custody petitions are referred just as often as divorce petitions. Where several cases between the same spouses are pending in different courts, one of them is usually chosen for the mediation, and the settlement then covers all of them.
The Delhi High Court also refers matrimonial appeals and petitions to quash FIRs to its own mediation centre, and the Supreme Court refers transfer petitions to the Supreme Court Mediation Centre. The process in each is broadly similar to the district centres described here.
Is mediation compulsory in divorce cases?
Attending is expected; settling is not. When the court sends you to mediation, you should attend on the date given. A party who keeps missing sessions gets a report saying so, and that affects how the court views later requests for adjournments, interim relief or costs. But no mediator can make you agree to divorce, to an amount, or to a custody arrangement. If you do not agree, the mediator reports that the mediation failed, and the case goes back to the court and continues from where it stopped.
This matters because many people treat the mediation date as a trap and either refuse to go or go and say nothing. Neither helps. Going and listening costs little, and you will learn what the other side really wants, which is often different from what their pleadings say. The worst outcome is that you hear an unreasonable demand and say no.
The position is different for mutual consent divorce. There, the parties have already agreed, so the court does not need mediation to settle the dispute, though the family court may still speak to both spouses to confirm that consent is free. Our post on mutual consent divorce in Delhi covers that route.
Where does mediation happen in Delhi?
The main place is the mediation centre inside each district court complex: Tis Hazari, Karkardooma, Saket, Rohini, Dwarka, Patiala House and Rouse Avenue. These centres are run under the supervision of the Delhi High Court, and the mediators are trained judicial officers and advocates. Sessions take place in small private rooms, not in the courtroom. You go there on the date and time in the referral order, sign in at the counter and wait to be called.
Family courts also have counsellors, provided for in section 6 of the Family Courts Act. A counsellor's role is closer to reconciliation: talking to each spouse about whether the marriage can be saved, and often meeting children in custody disputes. Some judges send a case to the counsellor first and to the mediation centre later. The Delhi High Court's mediation and conciliation centre, Samadhan, handles matters referred by the High Court.
Two other forums come up before any case is filed. Matrimonial complaints made to the Delhi Police are often sent first to the Crime Against Women (CAW) Cell, which calls both sides for counselling before deciding whether an FIR is needed. The Delhi State Legal Services Authority runs pre-litigation mediation, where a dispute can be mediated without filing a case at all. Lok Adalats also take matrimonial matters, though they are better suited to cases where the terms are mostly settled.
Mediation, counselling, CAW cell and Lok Adalat compared
These forums are often confused. The differences matter because what you say, and what you sign, has different consequences in each.
| Forum | Who runs it | When it comes up | What it produces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Court-annexed mediation centre | Trained mediators under the Delhi High Court's supervision | On referral by the family court or other court | Written settlement agreement, placed before the court |
| Family court counsellor | Counsellor attached to the family court | On referral by the family court judge | Report to the judge on reconciliation or the child |
| CAW Cell, Delhi Police | Police officers and counsellors | After a matrimonial complaint to the police | Compromise in writing, or a recommendation for an FIR |
| DSLSA pre-litigation mediation | Delhi State Legal Services Authority | Before any case is filed | Settlement that can be filed in court |
| Lok Adalat | Legal services authority bench | Pending or pre-litigation cases with agreed terms | Award, final and not appealable |
What happens at a mediation session?
Each mediator has their own style, but most matrimonial mediations in Delhi follow this pattern over two to five sessions.
Introduction and ground rules
The mediator explains that the process is confidential, voluntary and not a hearing. Both parties, and usually their advocates, sit together for this part. The mediator may ask who else has come and whether family members should join later.
Each side explains its position
Each spouse is given time to say what went wrong and what they want. The mediator does not decide who is right. Long speeches about the other side's family rarely help; a clear statement of what you need does.
Separate sessions
The mediator then meets each side alone. This is where the real conversation happens: what you can accept, what you cannot, and what matters most. What you say alone is not passed to the other side unless you allow it.
Exploring terms
The mediator moves between the parties with proposals on the main points: whether to divorce at all, the alimony figure, stridhan, the children, the house, and the pending cases. Expect several rounds and a few adjourned sessions to think or consult family.
Drafting the settlement
If terms are agreed, the mediator prepares a written settlement agreement. Read it fully, in Hindi or English as you prefer, before signing. Every party and the mediator sign it.
Report to the court
The mediator sends the agreement, or a report that mediation failed, to the referring court. The court records the statements of the parties on the settlement and passes orders accordingly.
Is what I say in mediation confidential?
Yes. What is said in mediation, and any offer made there, cannot be used as evidence in the court case if mediation fails. The mediator does not report who said what or who was unreasonable. The report to the court only says whether the matter was settled, not settled, or that a party did not attend. This is the reason mediation works at all: people can make offers without the fear that the offer will be read out against them later.
Confidentiality has practical limits. If you admit something in mediation that the other side can prove independently, they can still prove it in court through their own evidence. And if you send messages or emails about the settlement outside the mediation room, those messages are not covered by the mediation's confidentiality. Keep negotiation inside the sessions.
When Advocate B.K. Singh's office prepares a client for a first session, the advice is to say less about the past and more about the future. The mediator has no power to punish the other side, and long accounts of old grievances use up the session without moving anyone closer to terms.
How long does mediation take?
The referral order usually gives the mediation centre a period to finish, often around two to three months, and the court can extend it if the parties are making progress. Sessions are typically one to two hours, spaced a week or two apart. Many matrimonial mediations settle or fail within three to five sessions. Complicated cases with property, business interests or several pending cases can take longer.
The Mediation Act 2023 sets a period of 120 days for mediation, extendable by up to 60 days with the parties' consent. Parts of the Act have been notified and others are still being brought into force, and court-annexed mediation in Delhi continues to run under the courts' own rules alongside it. Check the current position, but in practice, expect the family court to give you a date for the mediation report and to take the case up again on that date.
Mediation does not stop the case. Interim orders, including interim maintenance, continue to apply while you are in mediation, and the court will usually keep the main matter on its board for the report.
What can be settled in a matrimonial mediation?
A matrimonial settlement can cover far more than a family court decree would. That is one reason it is often better than a judgment.
- Divorce or reunion. Whether the parties will file for mutual consent divorce, or try living together again on agreed terms.
- Permanent alimony. A one-time amount in full and final settlement of all maintenance claims, usually paid in instalments tied to the court stages. Our post on permanent alimony and one-time settlements explains how the figure is usually worked out.
- Stridhan and articles. Return of jewellery, gifts and household articles, with a list and a date. See recovering stridhan after separation.
- Children. Custody, visitation schedule, holidays, schooling, child maintenance and who keeps the passport.
- Property. Who keeps a jointly owned flat, who pays the home loan, and transfer of shares in property.
- Pending cases. Withdrawal of the divorce petition, maintenance case, domestic violence case and civil suits, and consent to quash any FIR.
- Conduct. No further complaints, no social media posts about each other, and a mutual undertaking not to contact the other's family.
Prepare this before your first mediation session
Mediation goes better when you arrive knowing your own position. Use this list.
- A one-page list of every case between you and your spouse: court, case number, stage and next date
- Copies of the FIR, if any, and the chargesheet
- The interim maintenance order and a record of what has been paid
- Your income documents: salary slips, ITRs for three years, bank statements
- A list of stridhan and articles you claim or hold, with photographs or bills where you have them
- Details of any jointly owned property and outstanding loans
- A clear view of the minimum you can accept and the maximum you can offer
- Your proposals on the children: where they live, how often the other parent meets them, school and expenses
- The name of the one family member, if any, whose agreement you need before signing
- Your diary for the next three months, so that dates for court steps can be fixed realistically
What goes into a good settlement agreement?
A settlement agreement is only as good as its drafting. In Chhatter Pal v State (2023), the Delhi High Court gave guidelines for mediators drafting settlements in matrimonial cases after seeing many quashing petitions fail on vague terms. Every party should be named, not described as petitioner or respondent. Each obligation should have a definite date. There should be a default clause stating what happens if a party does not perform. Where an FIR is involved, every person named in it should be named in the settlement, and it should say that the FIR is to be quashed against all of them, whether arrested or not. As far as possible, the agreement should be prepared in Hindi as well as English.
In practice, a sound matrimonial settlement also ties each payment to a court step. A common pattern is one instalment at the first motion of the mutual consent petition, another at the second motion, and the last when the FIR is quashed. This protects both sides: the payer does not pay everything before the cases close, and the receiver does not give up all claims before being paid.
Read the clauses about maintenance arrears, stridhan and the children with care. 'Full and final settlement of all claims' should say whose claims and which claims. A clause about child maintenance should not be written as if the mother is waiving the child's own right to support, because courts may not enforce such a waiver against the child.
After the settlement: divorce, withdrawals and quashing
The settlement is carried out in stages. The parties file a joint petition for divorce by mutual consent under section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, usually in the family court where the case was pending. If the parties have been living apart for long enough and the settlement has been carried out in part, they can also ask the court to waive the six-month waiting period between the first and second motions. Our post on waiver of the six-month cooling period covers when courts allow it.
Other cases are withdrawn according to the agreement: the maintenance case, the domestic violence case and any civil suits. Contested divorce petitions are usually withdrawn or converted into the mutual consent route. The order sheets in each court should record the settlement and the withdrawal, so that nothing is left pending.
An FIR for cruelty under section 85 BNS (or section 498A IPC for older cases) cannot be withdrawn by the wife, because it is not compoundable. It has to be quashed by the Delhi High Court under its inherent powers, now section 528 BNSS, on a petition filed by the accused with the wife's consent. Both spouses normally appear before the High Court, and the investigating officer identifies them. Our post on facing a cruelty case under section 85 BNS explains the quashing process from the husband's family's side.
A made-up example: one mediation, four cases closed
Here's a made-up example. Neha filed a maintenance case and a domestic violence case at Saket. Her husband Rohit filed a contested divorce petition at the same complex, and an FIR for cruelty was pending against Rohit and his parents at a police station in South Delhi. At the second hearing of the divorce case, the family court sent the parties to the mediation centre at Saket.
In the first session, both sides spent most of the time on past events. In the separate sessions, the mediator found that Neha's main concerns were the return of her jewellery and a sum that would let her put a deposit on a small flat, while Rohit's main concern was the FIR against his elderly parents. Over four sessions they agreed on a lump sum in three instalments, return of listed jewellery on a fixed date at the mediation centre, mutual consent divorce, withdrawal of the maintenance and domestic violence cases, and quashing of the FIR against all three accused.
The first instalment was paid and the jewellery handed over at the first motion. The second instalment was paid at the second motion, which the court took up early after waiving the waiting period. The last instalment was paid in the Delhi High Court on the day the FIR was quashed. Each step was tied to the one before it, so neither side had to trust the other blindly. This is an illustration only; the terms in a real case depend on its facts.
Can a party back out after signing the settlement?
Consent to a mutual consent divorce can be withdrawn at any time before the decree. A party who signs a settlement and then refuses to appear for the second motion cannot be forced to go through with the divorce. Courts have, however, taken a firm view of parties who take money or other benefits under a settlement and then resile. The family court can direct return of the amount received, and where a party has given an undertaking that was recorded in a court order, wilful breach of that undertaking can lead to contempt proceedings.
This is why the drafting of the default clause matters. A good settlement says what happens if a party backs out: amounts already paid are to be returned within a fixed time, cases withdrawn may be revived, and the other side's claims are restored. Without such a clause, the party left behind has to fight about it from scratch.
If you have doubts, raise them before you sign, not after. It is perfectly acceptable to ask for another session to think, to take advice, or to speak to your family. Mediators would rather lose a week than see a settlement collapse.
When is mediation the wrong place?
Mediation assumes that both parties can speak freely. Where there has been serious violence, threats or control, that assumption may not hold. A woman who is afraid of her husband should tell the mediator, or ask her advocate to tell the mediator, and request separate sessions so that she does not have to sit across from him. She can also tell the referring court that she does not wish to mediate on the issue of violence, and ask that protection orders under the Domestic Violence Act stay in place. Our post on protection and residence orders under the Domestic Violence Act explains those orders.
Mediation is also a poor fit where one side is using it to delay, for example to buy time to transfer assets or move a child abroad. If you see signs of this, ask the court for interim orders and tell the mediator that you are not prepared to continue without them.
Finally, mediation cannot settle what the law does not allow the parties to settle. It cannot fix the custody of a child against the child's welfare, and it cannot by itself close a non-compoundable criminal case. These need the court's order, and the court will check whether the settlement is fair before making it.
Common mistakes in matrimonial mediation
- Letting family members negotiate for you. Parents often have their own grievances. The settlement binds you, so you should be the one deciding.
- Arriving without numbers. If you do not know your own income, expenses and the minimum you can accept, you will either agree to too little or reject a fair offer.
- Asking for everything up front. A demand for the full amount before any case is withdrawn usually ends the mediation. Staged payments tied to court steps are the norm for a reason.
- Signing a vague agreement. Missing names, dates or a default clause cause problems later, especially in the quashing petition.
- Forgetting a case. A settlement that does not mention a pending civil suit or a complaint in another state leaves you exposed.
- Discussing the settlement on WhatsApp. Messages outside the mediation room are not confidential and can be produced in court.
Mediation for NRIs and parties outside Delhi
A spouse living abroad or in another state does not always need to fly in for every session. Delhi's mediation centres can hold sessions by video conference, and a party abroad can join from wherever they are, with their advocate present in Delhi. For signing the settlement, the party usually has to appear in person, or execute the documents before the Indian embassy or consulate in a form the court will accept. Ask the mediation centre in advance what it requires.
The court stages that follow may also need personal appearance, particularly the recording of statements for mutual consent divorce and the appearance before the High Court for quashing. Plan the visit to India around those dates. Our post on NRI divorce covers appearance and recognition of decrees in more detail.
What to do before your mediation date
Read the referral order and note the date, time and the mediation centre's address in the court complex. Prepare the checklist above. Decide, honestly, what you want: a divorce, a reunion, or simply an end to the litigation on terms you can live with. Talk to your advocate about a range for alimony or other payments that makes sense given the income documents on both sides.
Go to the session on time with your papers, listen more than you speak in the first meeting, and do not sign anything until you have read it fully. If agreement is reached, make sure each payment and each withdrawal is tied to a date and a court step.
If you want an advocate to sit with you through the mediation and check the settlement before you sign, the team of Advocate B.K. Singh at B.K. Singh & Associates handles matrimonial mediation in the Delhi family courts and can look at your case. You can reach us through the online enquiry page or read more about divorce cases in Delhi.
Frequently asked questions
Is it compulsory to attend mediation in a divorce case in Delhi?
You are expected to attend when the court refers the case, and repeated absence is reported to the court. But you are not obliged to settle. If you do not agree, the mediator reports failure and the case continues before the judge.
How many sessions does divorce mediation take?
Most matrimonial mediations in Delhi settle or fail within three to five sessions, each lasting one to two hours. Cases with property, business interests or several pending matters can take more. The court usually gives a period of a few months for the report.
Can my lawyer come with me to mediation?
Yes. Advocates usually accompany their clients to court-annexed mediation in Delhi and are present for joint sessions. The mediator may also speak to you alone, and you can consult your advocate before agreeing to anything.
Do I have to pay for mediation at the Delhi family court?
Court-annexed mediation in the Delhi district court complexes is generally free for the parties. Your own advocate's fees are separate and are agreed with your advocate.
Can the mediator tell the judge what I said?
No. The mediator's report only states whether the matter settled, failed, or a party did not attend. Statements and offers made during mediation cannot be used as evidence if the case goes back to trial.
What happens if mediation fails in a divorce case?
The case returns to the family court and continues from the stage it had reached. Interim orders such as maintenance continue. The court may refer the parties to mediation again later if it sees a chance of settlement.
Can a 498A or section 85 BNS case be settled in mediation?
The terms can be agreed in mediation, but the FIR cannot simply be withdrawn because the offence is not compoundable. The accused must file a quashing petition in the Delhi High Court, which considers the settlement and the parties' statements before quashing.
Can I withdraw from a mediation settlement after signing it?
You can withdraw consent to a mutual consent divorce before the decree. But if you have received money or given an undertaking recorded by the court, you may be ordered to return the money, and wilful breach of the undertaking can lead to contempt proceedings.
Can custody of children be decided in mediation?
Parents can agree on custody, visitation, schooling and child maintenance in mediation. The court will still check that the arrangement serves the child's welfare before accepting it, and can change it later if circumstances change.
Can an NRI spouse join mediation online?
Delhi's mediation centres can hold sessions by video conference, so a spouse abroad can take part from there. Signing the settlement and later court stages often need personal appearance or properly attested documents, so check the requirements early.
What is the CAW Cell and is it the same as mediation?
The Crime Against Women Cell of the Delhi Police calls both spouses for counselling after a matrimonial complaint is made to the police. It is not court-annexed mediation, and what is agreed there should still be put before the court if cases are pending.
Should the settlement be in Hindi or English?
The Delhi High Court has said that mediation centres should prepare matrimonial settlements in Hindi as well as English as far as possible. Ask for the version you understand more easily and read it fully before signing.
Written and reviewed at B.K. Singh & Associates
Advocate B.K. Singh
Founder of B.K. Singh & Associates. MCA, LL.B., LL.M., with more than twenty years of practice before the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court, district courts and tribunals across Delhi NCR. This article explains the general law as of 24 October 2026; it is not legal advice on your facts.