Kochi: Both the LDF and UDF governments have shown apathy to the proposed state litigation policy which has been pending approval for the last five years.
One of the proposals was to empower a law (nodal) officer to monitor the cases in the High Court, who would be responsible for active case management.
This involves constant monitoring of cases, particularly the examination of cases which have gone ‘off track’ or been unnecessarily delayed.
The HC’s frequent criticism about the functioning of advocate-general’s office had kicked off a debate on why the government is delaying to implement the proposal.
Former law minister M. Vijayakumar had proposed the plan initially but later it was shelved.
The current ministry in December 2011 issued a draft litigation policy based on the national litigation policy and an order was passed by the then law secretary C.P. Ramaraja Prasad.
As per the proposal, the government lawyers are expected to discharge their obligations with a sense of responsibility towards the court as well as the government.
If unjustifiable concessions are made on issues of facts or law without proper instruction and authorisation, the matter will be reported to the empowered committee and remedial action would follow.
He shall ensure that all relevant data is sent to the empowered committees for its effective functioning. The committee also recommended screening committees at all levels for the effective conduct of cases.
The proposal made it clear that the A-G will not come under the purview of the government law officer since he is a constitutional authority.
