Law minister signs national litigation policy document after taking charge

Document to be sent to Cabinet for deliberation

After assuming charge for the second time, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday signed the document on the National Litigation Policy, which will be sent to the Cabinet for deliberation.

“Today after assuming office, the first thing that I signed was the National Litigation Policy document. In this, every stakeholder related to litigation (litigants, advocates) has the ease of living factor in their lives. There was a long-pending demand for this. This will go before the Cabinet for deliberation,” Meghwal said.

The National Litigation Policy, aimed at transforming the government into an efficient and responsible litigant, is part of the 100-day agenda of the Modi 3.0 government, people in the know said.

The policy would address high legal costs and is focused on reducing the pendency of lawsuits in courts. BJP had promised the National Litigation Policy to decrease the number of cases in which the government is a party and the consequent load on courts. The long-pending policy was a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s manifesto.

Talking about the three new criminal laws that will be implemented from July 1, the MP from Bikaner and the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Law, said that there have been programmes undertaken to raise awareness of the laws and implementing them is a priority.

When asked about the One Nation, One Election committee’s recommendations, he said the decision on its implementation was yet to be taken.

On the question about the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Meghwal said it was a part of the BJP’s agenda. When asked about the judicial accountability bill, he said they would think about it.

Talking about the commercial landscape, he said that the government is heading towards making India a hub of arbitration and mediation. He said for ease of living, they have brought the mediation act.

The Bikaner MP won the Lok Sabha elections 2024 with a margin of 55,711 votes against Congress candidate Govind Ram Meghwal. He is a retired IAS officer from Rajasthan and a four-time Member of Parliament (MP) from Bikaner since 2009. He was BJP’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha in 2015.

In 2010, the National Litigation Policy was brought by former law minister Veerappa Moily, in the United Progressive Alliance government.

The Supreme Court also had observed in the 2003 case of Chief Conservator of Forests vs Collector, “The State/Union of India must evolve a mechanism to set at rest all interdepartmental controversies at the level of the government and such matters should not be carried to a court of law for resolution of the controversy."