Who is Justice L Nageswara Rao? SC appoints former judge to mediate Kalyani family dispute

The Supreme Court on Monday referred the longstanding property dispute between industrialist Babasaheb Neelkanth Kalyani and his sister, Sugandha Hiremath, to mediation, appointing former apex court judge Justice L Nageswara Rao to facilitate efforts towards a mutually acceptable resolution, according to Live Law Biz.

The court further ordered that the Bombay High Court should not proceed with Babasaheb Kalyani's plea seeking dismissal of the suit until the mediation exercise has been completed.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana encouraged both sides to make one last effort to settle the family dispute through mediation. The bench requested former Supreme Court judge Justice L. Nageswara Rao to complete the mediation process within two weeks.

The court noted that family disputes have, on many occasions, been resolved through mediation despite earlier unsuccessful attempts. It called on the parties to set aside prolonged litigation and make a sincere effort towards an amicable settlement.

"Mediation can succeed only many times later. We are putting a word of advice to them that this is the high time they should bury the hatchet. They should think of so many other prospective things in future. Instead of diverting their attention and energy, they should focus on resolving the dispute. This is the magic of mediation.", the court noted.

Who is Justice L Nageswara Rao?

A native of Pedanandipadu in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district, Justice Rao, 69, completed his schooling at Loyola Public School, Guntur, and pursued higher education at JKC College and TJPS College in the same city. He began his legal career in the Andhra Pradesh High Court before shifting his practice to the Supreme Court. In 2000, he was designated as a senior advocate and went on to become one of the country's leading constitutional lawyers.

Justice L. Nageswara Rao was reportedly elevated from the Bar to the Supreme Court, becoming only the seventh lawyer to be appointed to the apex court without first serving as a High Court judge. He took oath as a SC judge on May 13, 2016. Before his elevation, he was a distinguished senior advocate and had also served as the Additional Solicitor General of India.

During his career at the Bar, Justice Rao appeared in several high-profile cases. He represented former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case before the Karnataka High Court, where he successfully secured the reversal of her conviction. Among the final matters he argued before joining the bench was the NEET case, in which he represented the Tamil Nadu government and Christian Medical College.

Justice Rao reportedly served as a judge of the Supreme Court from May 13, 2016.

He retirement happened on June 7, 2022.

Meanwhile, Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, representing the petitioners, backed a renewed effort at mediation, arguing that the prospect of a settlement should not be dismissed simply because earlier attempts had been unsuccessful.

“You can take the horse to the water, can you make it drink? You may not be able to, but that is the whole purpose of mediation,” he told the court, the report noted.

On the other hand, Senior Advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Aryama Sundaram, Mukul Rohatgi and Kapil Sibal, appearing for Babasaheb Neelkanth Kalyani, opposed referring the dispute to mediation once again. They argued that three previous mediation efforts, including those conducted before the Supreme Court and a Pune district court, had already failed.

While referring to an earlier family dispute that was ultimately settled despite multiple failed mediation attempts, Chief Justice Surya Kant observed that the parties should not abandon hope of reaching a resolution simply because previous efforts had not succeeded.

"After seven or eight rounds of mediation, the elder brother said, 'I don't want a single penny.' The younger brother touched his feet, both started crying and resolved the dispute. This is the miracle. This is the magic of mediation.", the court stated.

The direction comes more than two months after the Bombay High Court declined to send the matter to mediation, observing that mediation under the Mediation Act, 2023 is a voluntary process and cannot be compelled if one of the parties does not consent.