Litigation policy under consideration to reduce court cases: Rijiju in LS

A litigation policy is under consideration to lay down guidelines for preventing, controlling and reducing court cases in a cohesive and organised manner, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in Lok Sabha on Friday.

Ministries and departments such as the Railways and Department of Revenue, involved in a high number of litigations, have been taking several measures for reducing the number of court cases, he said.

The Ministry of Railways has issued instructions for effective monitoring of court cases at all levels. Zonal railways and production units have been asked to take effective steps to reduce the number of cases in which the government is a party and reduce the burden of courts, expedite finalisation of all the cases in all courts at the earliest and to cut down the expenditure in contesting court cases, he noted.

"For achieving this, emphasis has been laid on effective monitoring of cases by having regular meetings with empanelled advocates, for briefing and necessary directions to be given at the highest level, besides ensuring timely submission of replies, counter replies and necessary documents to the advocates," he said.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) under the Department of Revenue, have issued a slew of instructions and brought in several measures, for reducing litigations and the resultant burden on courts.

For the purpose of monitoring of litigation of Union of India, Legal Information Management & Briefing System (LIMBS) portal was created, he said

As of now, there are 7.78 lakh cases (including archive cases) including 5.78 lakh live and pending cases entered by 57 ministries and departments.