Litigation efficiency must be improved
The Union government and, indeed, all state governments should replicate the idea of LIMBS
In June 2017, the Department of Justice told us that (a) the government is regarded as the biggest contributor to litigation; (b) 46% of cases pending in courts involve the government (including public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies); and (c) government litigation includes service matters, disputes with private parties, disputes between two government departments and disputes between two PSUS.
These aren’t new points. In criminal cases, the government is expected to be a litigant on one side. But these are data on civil cases. Court time is precious. For civil cases, why should the government crowd out the private citizen from the court system by preempting court time? Why should two government departments or two PSUS fight it out in courts?
You may have come across similar figures earlier. 60-65% of civil cases involve the government as a litigant, sometimes on both sides. 95% of government appeals fail and so on.
These earlier figures were often based on a sample survey done in Karnataka High Court in the early 1990s. Since then, there have been other surveys, such as by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.
We now have something akin to a census, not a sample survey. This is the Ministry of Law and Justice’s Legal Information Management and Briefing System (LIMBS).
This is for the Union government and, indeed, state governments to replicate the idea. The purpose of LIMBS isn’t academic research. It is a tool to ensure Union government litigation is handled better. As of today, 364,601 court cases are covered (315,154 of these are live). These straddle 2,415 courts and 64 ministries.
I said LIMBS is akin to a census, not a sample survey. That means, all Union government cases and all ministries/departments should be a part of it.
Since it is still work in progress, I don’t think it has yet become a census, but incrementally, it is getting there. More cases, more courts and more ministries/departments are becoming part of LIMBS.
One can process and analyse the database to figure out how Union government litigation can be handled better. The 46% figure I mentioned earlier is from LIMBS.
Since this is work in progress, as the database expands, numbers may change. Subject to that, which ministries account for most cases? In decreasing order of importance, we have railway, home affairs, communications, health and family welfare and finance.
These account for more than 70% of cases. Most cases are in tribunals, followed by high courts. Among high courts, most cases are filed in Delhi, UP, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and West Bengal High Courts. An average case takes eight years and 41,605 cases have been pending for more than ten years.
Another 72,805 cases have been pending for between five and ten years. This is a gen-
FOR CIVIL CASES, WHY SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT CROWD OUT THE PRIVATE CITIZEN FROM THE COURT SYSTEM BY PRE-EMPTING COURT TIME? WHY SHOULD TWO GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS FIGHT IT OUT IN THE COURTS?