Brief Outline on Excessive Government Litigation

A legal action or a lawsuit is referred to as litigation. A litigant is any person who is involved in a legal proceeding or a lawsuit. The litigant can be either a person who is suing someone or a person who is being sued. Understanding these two terms will now assist us in devolving into the concept of government litigation. When the government is a party to a legal action, whether it is being sued or being sued, the government becomes the litigant, giving rise to the term government litigation.

With government litigation accounting for roughly half of all other litigations in the judiciary and contributing significantly to the problem of pending cases in the Indian judiciary, the concept has sparked debate and discussion. The majority of government litigations involve one department of the government suing another or being sued by another, and many of them end up in court because the parties fail to prove their case.

What is Government Litigation?

Litigation Policy is being considered with the goal of establishing guidelines for preventing, controlling, and reducing litigation while keeping in mind the Government’s policy and plans in a cohesive and organised manner.

Ministries and departments involved in a high number of litigations, such as the Railways and the Department of Revenue, have taken several steps to reduce the number of court cases. The Ministry of Railways has issued instructions for effective court case monitoring at all levels.

Zonal Railways and Production Units have been directed to take effective steps to reduce the number of cases in which the Government is a party, thereby reducing the burden on courts, to expedite the finalisation of all cases in all courts as soon as possible, and to reduce the cost of contesting court cases. 

To accomplish this, an emphasis has been placed on effective case monitoring through regular meetings with empanelled advocates, for briefing and necessary directions to be given at the highest level, as well as ensuring timely submission of replies, counter-replies, and necessary documents to the advocates.

Indian Judicial System’s take on Government Litigation 

In the case of Dilbagh Rai v. Union of India (1974), Justice Krishna Iyer made a remark about the State’s lack of a litigation policy. The Supreme Court of India made the following observations regarding government litigation:

• The State is the most expensive litigant, and the enormous amount of money spent on the litigation process “draws a large draught on the public exchequer.”
• Given the enormous amount of responsibility and obligations vested in the State, it is reasonable to expect a reasonable amount of fairness in the government as a litigant.
• Because India is a welfare state, the nation’s government must not act in a way that contradicts the purpose of the welfare state’s constitution. By suing a poor employee, the government authority defeats the purpose of developing any policy aids for the nation’s poor.

“The State is a virtuous litigant and looks with unconcern on immoral forensic successes so that if on the merits the case is weak,

“The government demonstrates a willingness to settle the dispute regardless of prestige or other less important motivations that drive private parties to fight,” Justice Krishna Iyer stated.

Government Litigation Accounts for Nearly Half of all Litigation in Indian Courts

• More than 3 crore cases are pending in India’s various courts.
• According to reports, government litigation accounts for nearly half of all litigation in the Indian judiciary.
• However, no government sources have confirmed the exact amount of its litigation.
• The absence of this statistic indicates how ‘interested’ various governments have been in attempting to understand or address this problem meaningfully.
• Apart from being a drain on the public purse, government litigation has contributed to the judicial backlog, affecting justice delivery in India.
• Since the 1970s, the Supreme Court has chastised successive governments for being callous and mechanical in their litigation pursuit.
• The Law Commission of India investigated this issue in its 126th Report in 1988 and made pertinent observations.
• In 2016, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, raised the issue of excessive government litigation.

“The Existing Policies on Government Litigation in India”

The National Litigation Policy is based on the understanding that the government and its various agencies are the primary litigants in the country’s courts and tribunals.Its goal is to make the government a more efficient and responsible litigant. This policy is also based on the recognition that it is the government’s responsibility to protect citizens’ rights and to respect fundamental rights, and those in charge of the administration of government litigation should never lose sight of this basic principle.

Effective Litigation Means

• Concentrating on and confronting the central issues in the litigation

• Managing and carrying out litigation in a unified, coordinated, and time-bound manner.
• Ensuring that good cases are won and bad cases are not pursued indefinitely.
• A litigant represented by competent and sensitive legal counsel: competent in their skills and sensitive to the fact that the government is not an ordinary litigant.

Conclusion

When the government is a party to a legal action, whether it is being sued or being sued, the government becomes the litigant, giving rise to the term government litigation. With government litigation accounting for roughly half of all other litigations in the judiciary and contributing significantly to the problem of pending cases in the Indian judiciary, the concept has sparked debate and discussion. The majority of government litigations involve one department of the government suing another or being sued by another, and many of them end up in court because the parties fail to prove their case. Litigation Policy is being considered with the goal of establishing guidelines for preventing, controlling, and reducing litigation while keeping in mind the Government’s policy and plans in a cohesive and organised manner.