The Administrative Council has approved the ‘reforms’ proposed by the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs department for speedy disposal of pending cases against the government in different courts of J&K and the Supreme Court.
“These reforms were tabled before the Administrative Council which met here recently under Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and the AC approved the reforms following deliberations in which roles of the Director Litigations, Advocate-on-Records, Law Officers, government counsels have been specified and the appointments of Officer Incharge Litigation (OICs) has been recommended,” an official said.
There are 65,885 pending cases in J&K High Court, 16,015 in Central Administrative Tribunal and 1,85,755 in subordinate courts of the Union Territory. Majority of pending cases include service and revenue matters, land acquisition and criminal cases, and, arbitration and Public Interest Litigations.
It was observed that the cases in huge numbers are pending because objections are not filed on time before the courts and the appeals, LPA, SLP are filed well beyond the period of limitation and without any proper explanation for delay. “There is no proper monitoring of litigations at various levels and lack of coordination between department and government counsel.”
Despite best measures like monitoring of litigation cells, constitution of arbitration cells, litigation monitoring system software, the numbers of pending cases have increased following which the need for reforms in litigations was felt, an officer said.
Accordingly, the Law Department made recommendations specifying the role of both the Directors Litigation in Kashmir and Jammu. Similarly, the role of Advocate-on-Record, Government Counsels, and Law Officer has also been clarified in detail in the reforms, approved by the Administrative Council.
As per an official, the Law Secretary has been directed to hold periodic review to ensure timely disposal of litigations. “The Law Secretary has also been directed to take action in case of misconduct or dereliction of duty,” the official added.
The Directors Litigation, Kashmir, Jammu, shall monitor the litigation (both civil and criminal) at divisional levels respectively and maintain complete record of the cases pending in subordinate courts and in the High Court in a format devised by the Law Department.
Meanwhile, the recommendation for the appointment of Officer Incharge (Litigation) – other than law officers – has also been made. The Officer Incharge should not be below the rank of Under Secretary. “The Officer Incharge shall represent all departments including arbitration matters and there shall be one Officer Incharge per case except in exceptional cases where Government can appoint more than one Official Incharge,” an officer privy to the development told Greater Kashmir.
The official said that the Official Incharge shall keep close liaison with the department and advocate contesting the case on behalf of the Government.
The assignment for role and responsibilities to the law officer and advocates handling government litigations has also been suggested in the reforms.
The Law Officer shall maintain a complete record of the cases pending in courts, related to the department so that cases may be tracked conveniently, the official said.
He said that there shall be one Advocate-on-Record or as may be specified by the government from time to time to be Incharge of cases both civil and criminal in the Supreme Court for J&K.
The Advocate–on-Record and all Standing Counsels shall, on instructions of government, take steps to brief the Advocate General or the Senior Advocate as the case may be in any matter of J&K, the officer further added.
They shall represent in all the cases of J&K before the Supreme Court and inform the advance list/daily proceedings of the cases to the Law Department and the Advocate General.
Besides, the official said that the Standing Counsels/Additional Standing Counsel shall conduct all the litigations of Union Territory as per allocation made to them by the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs through Advocate-on-Record appointed by the J&K Government.
The role of Government Counsels, Additional Advocate General, Deputy Advocate General, Government Advocates and Standing Counsels appointed/engaged by the Department of Law has also been specifically explained.
Meanwhile, the Law Secretary will take overall review of the pending litigations by holding meetings of the Officer Incharge, Law Officers and Government Counsels and other officers once in two months on the status of government litigation, said the officer.
The Law Secretary will also make the officers and counsels responsible after observing the performance of Law Officers, Government Counsels and Director Litigations and a checklist has been devised to monitor the sanctioning process of Appeals.
He will also recommend action in case of gross misconduct or dereliction of duty or impropriety in respect of any class or any individual case of importance and take suitable measures to enforce accountability on the part of all stakeholders.