The Supreme Court of India held that pre-litigation mediation is mandatory. However the judgement will operate prospectively from 20.8.22. In para 84 the Supreme Court held as under:
“Having regard to all these circumstances, we would dispose of the matters in the following manner. We declare that Section 12A of the Act is mandatory and hold that any suit instituted violating the mandate of Section 12A must be visited with rejection of the plaint under Order VII Rule 11. This power can be exercised even suo moto by the court as explained earlier in the judgment. We, however,make this declaration effective from 20.08.2022”
