(a) whether the Government proposes to implement any alternative system to dispose off those cases out of the court wherein Government is also a party and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government has assessed the number of such cases wherein Government is also a party;
(c) if so, the number of such cases pending in the Subordinate Courts and Supreme Court as on date; and
(d) the percentage of such cases out of the total number of pending cases?
MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) : The Government has been in the forefront to promote alternative system to dispose off cases out of the court not only where the Government is a party but also between private parties. Legal framework for resolution of disputes through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) has been provided under Section 89 CPC. Besides, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 recourse to ADR can be taken under Companies Act, 2013, Commercial Courts Act, 2015, Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, to name a few. By recourse to ADR mechanism provided under law, the parties can resolve their dispute outside the Courts.
As regards commercial disputes, where both parties are Government/Department or where one party is Government/Department and other is its instrumentalities (CPSEs/Boards/Authorities, etc.), the Department of Legal Affairs has issued a guideline namely, “Administrative Mechanism for Resolution of Disputes (AMRD)”. The AMRD applies to any/all dispute(s), other than those related to taxation, between Central Government Ministries/Departments and other Ministries/ Departments/Organisation(s)/Subordinate/Attached Offices/ Autonomous and Statutory Bodies, etc., under their administrative supervision/control.
(b): The Legal Information Management & Briefing System (LIMBS) Ver.2 has been developed by NIC. It is a web-based application for the monitoring of Court Cases wherein Union of India is a party. However, as LIMBS Ver.2 has been developed recently and is currently under updation, it is seen that as on 14.09.2020, 4.71 lakh court cases have been entered by the various Ministries/Departments of the Government of India.
(c): As on date, out of the cases entered by the user Ministries/Departments in LIMBS Ver.2, 89202 cases are pending in the Subordinate Courts and 15431 cases are pending in the Supreme Court.
(d): As per the data entered till date by the user Ministries/Department in LIMBS Ver.2, the percentage of cases pending in the Subordinate Courts and Supreme Court to the total number of pending cases is 22.22%.
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