Government may not move Supreme Court in individual cases where implication is below Rs 50 lakh
Source – indiatimes.com
NEW DELHI: Seeking to reduce the number of cases in which it is a party, the government may not approach the Supreme Court against high court orders where the financial implication is less than Rs 50 lakh.
The government is “actively considering” to increase by five times the financial threshold of cases to Rs 50 lakh in which it will move the Supreme Court against verdicts of high courts.
As of now, the threshold is Rs 10 lakh.
For example, currently the government departments approach the apex court in case they have to forego an amount of Rs 10 lakh or more following a high court decision in individual cases.
If the proposal is implemented, central departments and ministries will approach the top court only if the financial implication is Rs 50 lakh and above, a senior government functionary told PTI.
But if a high court decision overturns a policy, the SC should be approached even if the financial implication is negligible, he pointed out.
According to a government data, as on June 12, 2017, a total of 1,35,060 government cases and 369 contempt cases were pending in courts.
Government litigation includes service matters and conflict with private entities as well as disputes between government departments and between PSUs.
Contempt cases are generally a result of non-adherence to judicial directions and failure to file affidavits on time and appear before courts.
“Approximately 46 per cent of the total pending cases in courts pertain to the government. These include cases relating to public sector undertakings and other autonomous bodies,” said a law ministry document, citing data available on the website of LIMBS — the government’s Legal Information Management and Briefing System.
The A-G had told additional solicitors general that when the Law Ministry refers proposals of various ministries to file SLPs in the top court challenging a high court order relating to service matter of individuals, the law officers should ensure that frivolous pleas are not allowed to reach the apex court.
If a Special Leave Petition (SLP) has to be filed by a central ministry or a department, it approaches the Law Ministry which seeks the opinion of one of the additional solicitors general. If the opinion of the ASG is positive, the SLP is filed.
Over 3.14 crore cases are pending in courts across India.
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