Lok Sabha Question No. 3944 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-17
Subject: Pending Court Cases
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: L.S. Tejasvi Surya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3944

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 17 TH  JULY, 2019.

## Pending Court Cases

3944. SHRI L. S. TEJASVI SURYA:

## Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of cases pending in Indian Courts involving a department / Ministry of the Union Government and a Central PSU along with the courts where these cases are filed;
- (b) the measures undertaken to resolve such disputes out of court so that time and resources of Courts are freed up to resolving other disputes; and
- (c) the measures that have been institutionalized to ensure that disputes amongst entities  controlled  by  Union  Government  are  resolved  speedily  and  without straining the resources of the Indian judicial system?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a)  :  All  the  Central  Government  Ministries  and  Departments  update  data  on  pending litigations  involving  them  on  the  web-portal  created  by  Department  of  Legal  Affairs, namely ,  Legal  Information  Management  and  Briefing  System  (LIMBS).    As  per  the information available on LIMBS portal, details of cases involving Ministries / Departments etc. pending in various courts are given below:
- (b)  &  (c):  The  Ministry  of  Law  &  Justice  has  suggested  to  various  Government Departments and Organisations and other related bodies to explore options for settlement of  their  disputes  through  alternate  methods, like mediation,  arbitration,  conciliation, etc. either  online  or  otherwise.    For  the  purpose,  the  Government  has  made  available information  about  Agencies  /  Institutions  /  Organisations  working  in  the  field  of  such

| Court                                                   | Number of cases pending.   |
|---------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------|
| Supreme Court                                           | 13,260                     |
| High Courts                                             | 1,30,031                   |
| District / Subordinate Courts / Tribunals / Forums etc. | 2,58,965                   |
| Total                                                   | 4,02,256                   |

alternate  methods  of  dispute  resolution  on  the  website  of  the  Department  of  Justice  to provide  information  about  them  to  the  users.    The  relevant  Government  Ministries  were requested in April, 2017 to take necessary action for reducing number of court cases in which Government is a party.  It was followed by a series of meetings held with various Ministries and Departments in the months of June and August 2017 requesting them to review  their  pending  cases  with  a  view  to  reduce  number  of  litigation  and  to  consider contempt  cases  in particular so  as  to  weed  out  vexatious  and  unnecessary  litigation pending in courts.

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