'Govt wasting resources, judicial time on lost causes': Supreme Court judge Nagarathna advocates mediation

Justice BV Nagarathna

Supreme Court judge Justice BV Nagarathna has sharply criticised government bodies for repeatedly pursuing hopeless cases, calling it a drain on public money and judicial time.

“If a government body goes on initiating another round of litigation where there exists no likelihood of success, our country’s resources will continue to be improperly used and judicial time mislocated,” she said at the Second National Mediation Conference in Bhubaneswar.

Rejecting the perception that mediation was a diluted form of justice, Justice Nagarathna instead described it as “timely, accessible and equitable.” She added: “Mediation is a new dimension not only to achieve justice, but to access justice.”

Justice Nagarathna underlined the pressing need to expand the scope of mediation beyond commercial disputes into areas such as environment, healthcare, intellectual property, corporate governance, public contracts and juvenile justice.

She told the conference that “if a governmental-body keeps initiating another round of litigation only to exhaust judicial avenues where there exists no likelihood of success, our country's resources will continue to be improperly used and judicial time misallocated.” She stressed that there was “an impending need to transform this outlook” in order to make mediation a legitimate and effective method of government-led dispute resolution.

Calling upon lawyers to see themselves as “healers of human conflict,” Justice Nagarathna urged the judiciary to embrace the Mediation Act, 2023, emphasising that it reflects Parliament’s intent to ease the burden on courts and broaden access to justice.

Central government party to seven lakh cases pending across courts

In February this year, the law ministry told the Rajya Sabha that the central government is a party in nearly seven lakh cases pending across courts, with the finance ministry alone being a litigant in nearly two lakh cases.

Citing data available on the Legal Information Management & Briefing System (LIMBS), Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had said, “There are about seven lakh cases pending where the Government of India is a party. Out of these, in about 1.9 lakh cases the Ministry of Finance is mentioned as a party”.

Seeking to reduce and prevent court cases involving the central government, the Union law ministry has issued a set of directives to be followed by all central ministries. The government had been mulling over its long-standing plan for a national litigation policy, however, it decided to issue directives to ministries, departments, and public sector undertakings (PSUs).

The ministry proposes key measures such as minimising “unwarranted appeals” in courts and addressing “inconsistencies in notifications and orders” that lead to court cases.

The Department of Legal Affairs in the law ministry has formulated the “Directive for the efficient and effective management of litigation by the Government of India” based on the recommendations of the committee of secretaries (CoS), chaired by the cabinet secretary, the ministry said in a statement.

“ It shall be applicable to all ministries and departments of the central government, including their attached and subordinate offices, autonomous bodies, as well as Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)...,” it said.

For CPSEs, the directive will also be applicable in matters pertaining to arbitration, a functionary told news agency PTI.

With inputs from PTI