Bardiya, December 9:

Sundar Tharu of Bardiya is heaving a sigh of relief these days. Engaged in a case concerning the ownership of land with the landowner, Dhobi Tharu, Sundar had been frequenting courts since 1996. All his troubles ended as a mediation centre established in his village - the Community Mediation Office (CMO) — settled the case a week ago.

Out of 446 cases registered in the CMO in four months, the CMO has settled 248 cases. The Centre for Legal Exploration and Resource Development (CELERD) has been running community mediation programmes in six VDCs and the Gulariya municipality in Bardiya district, coordinator for the CLERD, Satish Sharma, says.

The cases filed are related to land feuds, swindling and family disputes.

Under the initiation of the CMO, Sundar and Dhobi struck a pact, agreeing to divide the land equally among themselves. Sundar’s family, which had been awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on the case, is happy now.

Sundar had filed a case against landowner Dhobi Tharu. In course of the long-running case, he frequented district, appellate courts and even the Supreme Court. “In my decade-long struggle to lay claim over eight katthas of land, I spent Rs 2.5 lakh,” says Sundar.

“Though I spent over Rs 2.5 lakh while fighting the case in courts, I got justice in the village,” says Sundar, adding, “I could have purchased one bigha of land with the money I spent in course of my legal battle.”

The families of landowner and Sundar had enmity for 10 years. “ I did not have good feeling towards the family of the landowner,” said Sundar. Dhobi says he also spent Rs 3 lakh in course of fighting the case.

The case of Dhobi and Sundar is not limited within themselves; however, it is the case of hundreds of people in the district.

Many Tharu families have become landless in course of fighting costly legal battles to claim ownership over chunks of land. Land disputes between relatives also dampen family ties.

“As some legal provisions are difficult to implement and some court verdicts cannot be implemented, people’s faith in the judicial system is eroding,” vice chairperson of the Nepal Bar Association, Kumar Sharma Acharya, says.