Law ministry urges timely response to court orders to prevent contempt

With nearly 1.50 lakh contempt cases involving the central government pending across courts, the law ministry has pushed for "timely and adequate" response to court orders by Union ministries to prevent such proceedings.

The ministry also pointed out that many officials managing litigation in ministries or their departments do not possess qualification in the field of law which results in a lack of understanding of legal implications and delayed response to judicial directives. This leads to contempt cases against head of the organisations, it said.

In its 'Directive for the efficient and effective management of litigation by the Government of India', the Department of Legal Affairs in the law ministry said the capacity of ministries to manage litigation is limited due to resource constraints.

Most ministries and departments do not have a dedicated legal cell, and cases are generally being handled by the administrative or technical divisions overseeing the relevant subject matter.

"At times, contempt proceedings are initiated against government officials for non-compliance of judgment and orders, which can be prevented by enhancing monitoring and coordination mechanisms to ensure timely and adequate responses to judgments and orders." it stressed.

Seeking to reduce court cases where the central government is a party, it directed ministries to nominate a nodal officer ordinarily not below the rank of Joint Secretary who will be assigned the responsibility to oversee litigation management.

"The officer should preferably have an LLB degree or above and/or sufficient legal expertise, as well as a reasonable continuity of tenure," it said.

It also directed creation of post of Director (Legal)/Deputy Secretary (Legal)/ Under Secretary (Legal) across ministries to deal with litigation.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha during the Budget session, law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had said the responsibility of implementation of court orders rests with the respective administrative ministries and departments.