A public suit has been moved in the High Court of Delhi seeking directions to the Central Govt to uniformly implement National Litigation Policy amongst all ministries, departments, instruments, PSUs & apparatus.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleged that the Union of India isn't adhering to its own policy (NLP), & is neither implementing the policy uniformly nor in totality, thereby causing great injustice to the poor. The plea also sought similar directions to the Govt of Delhi in respect of the State Litigation Policy, while determining a strict time schedule to be followed.
The matter was adjourned for Jan 13, 2021, as the division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel & Justice Prateek Jalan, which was slated to hear the matter, did not assemble on Monday.
National Litigation Policy was launched on June 23, 2010, with a view to ensuring the conduct of responsible litigation by the Central Govt.
The petition, filed by Dr N Bhaskar Rao & Shanmuga Patro, sought the court's indulgence & intervention towards the alleged problem of judicial delay & huge arrears. Unless something is done about it, the whole system will get crushed under its weight, it said.
The petition said that "Thirteenth Finance Commission (2010-2015) made it a condition for States to formulate & implement State Litigation Policy in order to receive Central Grants. Working Group for the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017) of Department of Justice Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India emphasised on strict implementation of NLP".
The plea said that the NLP was formulated with the purpose that the Govt should not get involve in frivolous litigation, especially where the stakes are not high.
"The judiciary has to spend its maximum time in tackling cases where the government is a party, & the burden on Judiciary can only be reduced if the cases are filed after taking a careful & considered view," the petition said.
It added that "There is a crucial need to take transformative measures to reduce pendency of court cases. It is imperative to give top priority by all concerned Ministries/Departments to review all pending court cases & take up special arrears clearance drives".
The appeal said that the policy was aimed at transforming the Govt into an efficient & responsible litigant & added that the underlying purpose of the policy is to reduce government litigation in Courts so that valuable Court time is spent in resolving other pending issues to enable the average pendency of a case in a court reduced from 15 years to 3 years.
The petition said that "The policy also formulated that all pending cases involving the government would be reviewed to filter frivolous & vexatious matters from the meritorious one. Cases so identified would be withdrawn, which would also include cases covered by previous decisions of courts. Such withdrawal of the cases would be done in a time-bound fashion".
Source Link
Picture Source :
