Editorial

Introduction

• Indian Judicial System has a streamlined hierarchy to balance the burden of cases considering the vast population of India.
• However, the pendency of approximately 520 million cases in total raises an alarm to dig a solution.
• One of the persistent challenges that the Indian judiciary faces is the staggering pendency of government litigation.
• The backlog of cases involving government bodies and agencies has become a matter of significant concern, raising questions about the speediness of the country's legal system.
• As per the Ministry of Law and Justice, the government and its agencies are major litigators in a remarkable number of matters which marks approximately 40% of the pending cases.

Legal Information Management and Briefing System (LIMBS)

• The LIMBS Portal was designed and developed by the Ministry of Law and Justice on 24th March 2022.
• It is a web-based application for upload of information and monitoring of court cases where Union of India is one of the parties.
• As per the official data of LIMBS, there are 6,73,310 pending cases till date.
• The data available on this portal suggests that the top five ministries and government entities as a party in around 75% of the pending litigations are the Ministry of Finance, Railways, Defence, Labour and Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
• Most pending cases where the Ministry of Finance is a party are tax-related matters, in the case of the Ministry of Defence, CAG and Ministry of Home Affairs, service matters in among one of the undecided issues.
  • 31% of compensation related issues are pending where the Ministry of Railways is a party.
• Most cases are pending before High Courts and Tribunals themselves having very less economic value.

Recommendation of Commissions on Pending Cases

• 100^th Report of Law Commission (1984):
  • Tenth Law Commission in the Chairmanship of Justice K K Mathew gave 100^th report consisting of recommendations upon litigation by and against the Government to bring a reform.
  • The report primarily recommended three things that are:
    • Notice required for suit against the Government or public officer under Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) should be repealed,
    • Appointment of a Litigation Ombudsman whom citizens can approach to redress the grievance against the government.
    • Deletion of Artice 112 of the Limitation Act, 1963 which allows the government a period of thirty years for all suits.
• 126^th Report of Law Commission (1988):
  • Eleventh Law Commission in the Chairmanship of Justice D A Desai gave 126^th report consisting of recommendations upon policies and strategies related to Government and Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Litigation.
  • It remarked that the dockets of multiplicity of litigation have become unmanageable.
  • It recommended that there should be a Parliamentary Committee on Litigation to inquire into litigation take by or on behalf of the Government, PSUs, Department and Instrumentalities of the Government and take upon itself the inquisition of litigation which can is avoidable by courts.
• 230^th Report of Law Commission (2009):
  • Eighteenth Law Commission in the Chairmanship of Justice A R Lakshmanan gave 230^th report consisting of suggestions made by the Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly to bring reform in judiciary.
  • The report notes that the Central and State Governments are the biggest litigants in the courts.
    • They should approach the courts or contest cases only if necessary and not just to pass on the buck or contest for the sake of contesting.
• Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2007):
  • The 4th report on Ethics of Governance in the Chairmanship of M. Veerappa Moily observed that the government is the major litigant in each rung of the judicial hierarchy.
  • The report outlined that the State can ill-afford wastage of resources by engaging itself in legal disputes that are not going to serve the public interest.
    • A sense of accountability has to be brought about by sensitizing the officialdom at appropriate levels so that there is periodic appraisal of each ongoing litigation involving Government and irresponsible contest or prosecution of cases is not resorted to.

Major Steps Taken by Governments to Reduce Government Litigation

• The government has encouraged and adopted Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms to resolve or settle the disputes arising between ministries or public departments.
• The Government has introduced Mediation Bill, 2021 in the Rajya Sabha on 20th December 2021 to enact independent legislation on Mediation.
  • As per the Ministry of Law and Justice, the bill aims to promote and facilitate mediation, especially institutional mediation, for resolution of disputes, and for several other matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
• The government adopted LIMBS portal to place the government litigation under a single umbrella.
• State Governments have formulated State Litigation Policies to plan and strategies ways to reduce litigation.

Way Forward

• The government should review its litigation policies and adopt a more proactive approach to dispute resolution, including considering settlement options.
• Encouraging government agencies to explore Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods, such as mediation and arbitration, can expedite dispute resolution and reduce the burden on the courts.
• Government departments should prioritize the strengthening of their legal teams by hiring skilled lawyers and providing adequate resources. This would enhance their capacity to handle legal matters efficiently.
• Courts can adopt case management techniques to expedite government cases. This includes setting strict timelines for various stages of litigation, regular monitoring, and prioritizing older cases.
  • Courts should enforce strict adherence to timelines and discourage unnecessary adjournments.