India, Feb. 7 -- Sanctity of the mediation process, which is essentially an extension of judicial proceedings, must be preserved in its entirety, the Orissa high court has held, while declining to direct a man to return gold ornaments to his wife following the conclusion of mediation and submission of the mediator's report before the court.

"The sanctity of the mediation process, which is essentially an extension of judicial proceedings, needs to be maintained to its hilt. Reopening the issue would encourage uncertainty and instability besides abuse of the process of law," Justices Manash Ranjan Pathak and Sibo Sankar Mishra held in a verdict delivered on January 21.

The judgment, authored by Justice Mishra, came while considering the w...