Bodies of three babies found at MP temple
CUTTING AT SOURCE Law ministry wants all others to include a ‘litigation potential’ clause in future legislations to cut issues Govt wants future laws to have mechanism to reduce litigation
NEW DELHI : To reduce the mounting number of cases pending in Indian courts, the Union law ministry has proposed a sweeping change to all future laws and amendments: it wants ministries to incorporate mechanisms to reduce litigation within all proposed laws.
The new legislations must also include ways of settling disputes before they reach courts, it has said.
“Countries like the US have provision for pre-litigation meeting before a dispute reaches court. This saves both time and costs,” a top functionary of the law ministry told HT.
Laws are drafted by different ministries, vetted by the law ministry and the drafts discussed in the cabinet before they are brought to Parliament to be passed by both Houses.
In a note sent to cabinet secretary PK Sinha earlier this month, the ministry has asked that all ministries while drafting new laws or amendments to existing ones must introduce a “litigation potential clause” in the proposed legislation.
“This will help the government assess if a proposed legislation is going to lead to an increase in litigation and check that problem at the inception stage,” a senior official in the law ministry told HT. “Laws are sometimes drafted to correct an anomaly but a poorly drafted clause in the law can lead to a string of litigation.”
The ministry wants draft laws to not just anticipate the volume of possible litigation that might arise out of the new law but even incorporate the measures to resolve such litigation.
“It would be apt that the piece of legislation which would eventually form part of the legal framework of the country itself contains the mechanism for early resolution of disputes (using ADR or other mechanisms),” the note, sent by the minister of state for law PP Chaudhary to Sinha, reads.
ADR or alternative dispute resolution includes resolving disputes through arbitration and mediation.
The proposal is the outcome of a high-level brainstorming session in the ministry’s department of justice on July 27.
The session which included ministers and secretaries was held to come up with ways to help the government reduce litigation, the official said.
“At present, there are more SAGAR: Bodies of three babies, including two girls were found in a plastic bag on Sunday afternoon on the premises of a temple in Bundelkhand’s Sagar district.
Additional superintendent of police Pankaj Pandey said some ragpickers were collecting scrap from the premises of Pahalwan Baba temple in Sagar when one of them found a plastic bag filled with “something heavy”.
Pandey said when one of the ragpickers opened the bag, he found bodies of three babies inside it.
“There was a commotion in the area and the police was informed about it. Ants and insects had started crawling than 3.28 crore cases pending in the courts,” the official said.
In March this year, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had written to his cabinet colleagues and all chief ministers asking them to ensure “litigation is the last resort” for government departments. The government is party to nearly half of all cases pending in court. over the bodies of the babies,” the officer said.
Pandey said upon reaching the spot, the police took possession of the three bodies and sent them for post-mortem to know the exact cause of their death and whether they were stillborn or died after birth or were killed.
“Whatever be the cause of their death, police is investigating the matter. The managements of the nursing homes in the area will also be questioned. The post-mortem will make things clear,” he said.
This will help the government assess if a proposed legislation is going to lead to an increase in litigation and check that problem at the inception stage A SENIOR OFFICIAL IN THE LAW MINISTRY ANTS AND INSECTS WERE CRAWLING OVER THE THREE BODIES, TWO OF WHICH WERE OF GIRLS, POLICE SAID