Centre moots policy to cut down litigations involving govt

The Centre is in the process of finalising a policy for reducing the number of court cases against the government.
The National Litigation Policy, currently being drafted by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, aims to put in place legal provisions and remedies to cut down the staggering number of litigations against the government.
One measure, being mulled in this direction, is to encourage judges through award of credit points for settling cases through compromise, thereby cutting down in the number of government litigations.
Union Law and Justice Minister D V Sadananda Gowda shared this policy information with BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Avinash Rai Khanna, who had written to the government urging it to consider higher credit points for judges in lieu of settlement of cases against the government through compromise.

In a letter in this connection to Khanna, who is Chief Whip of BJP in Rajya Sabha, Gowda said, "The National Litigation Policy is being finalised... In this, the Ministry incorporates the provisions for effective use of Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure to reduce the number of cases being filed against the government."
On Khanna's suggestion for providing higher credit points to judges for settling cases through compromise, the Minister said the same had been shared with Chief Justices of the High Courts by the former Law Minister in October last.

"Encouraging responses have been received from several High Courts in this regard," Gowda said.

Khanna had earlier written to the Law Minister expressing concern over the staggering burden of government litigation and suggested a number of measures to reduce it, including the effective use of Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
This section if used effectively, Khanna said, will not only help reduce the number of cases but will also save time and resources by settling cases through a two-month notice.
The section helps early disposal of cases against the government at the initial stage by providing the required relief to the ligitant within a period of two months through a notice to the government.