Gujarat Cabinet approves litigation policy

In a bid to reduce government litigation in courts, the state government has approved the Gujarat State Litigation Policy.

The policy is also expected to help in reducing the number of pending court cases.

The state Cabinet approved the policy in its weekly seating on Wednesday, said state government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas. He said that the total number of pending court cases in the state was around 22 - 23 lakh.

The policy comes in the wake of recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission and is based on the National Litigation Policy. The Union government has allocated Rs293 crore to the state government for implementing this policy.

"The policy is aimed at reducing government litigation in courts so that courts can spend more time on other cases. This will help reduce number of pending court cases," Vyas said.

The litigation policy is expected to help in achieving the goal of National Legal Mission to reduce the average pendency time from 15 to three years.

According to officials, high-level committees have been constituted for effective implementation of the policy. The state-level empowered committee will be headed by the chief secretary. The departmental empowered committee will be headed by respective heads of department, while the district-level committee will be headed by the district collector.

Vyas said that detailed guidelines for land acquisition-related litigations, public interest litigations and litigations by and against the state government, to be followed by the government machinery, would be prepared soon.