Government Asks Ministries to Identify Cases for Withdrawal After Legal Reforms

Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan has directed secretaries of various ministries and departments to identify cases that can be withdrawn, following the decriminalisation of several offences under the Jan Vishwas Act and the removal of obsolete legal provisions. According to The Times of India, officials have been asked to complete this review exercise by the end of the month.

Background and Objectives

• The initiative aims to reduce the government's litigation burden.
• It seeks to avoid pursuing cases that have lost relevance due to recent changes in the legal framework.
• The review covers cases affected by amendments under the Jan Vishwas legislation and other legal reforms.

Pending Litigation Data

• Reports indicate that over 3.5 lakh litigations involving the central government have been pending for more than five years.
• This total includes over one lakh legacy cases spread across 19 high courts.
• The revenue department reportedly holds the highest number of cases pending for over five years at 1.27 lakh.
• Other departments with high pending counts include railways (45,583), the department of military affairs (32,464), labour and employment (28,822), and corporate affairs (27,109).
• While ministries like road transport, defence, and telecommunications may have fewer pending cases, officials noted that their financial implications could be substantially higher.

Legal Changes and Future Steps

• Under Jan Vishwas legislations in 2023 and 2026, several sections of central laws were decriminalised and rationalised with compliance provisions.
• Cabinet Secretary Somanathan reportedly announced that a dedicated litigation management portal is planned for launch in November.
• The portal is intended to monitor litigation management cells, review legacy cases and appeals, and handle mediation and screening.
• Ministries and departments will be required to update case statuses regularly.

Readers can verify these details through official government announcements and reports published by mainstream news outlets such as The Times of India.