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TMI Blog2021 (7) TMI 335X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e claims and Courts seldom take any action against the person concerned for raising false claims/ defences. 2. This Court is of the prima facie view that whenever a false claim is raised by the Government, it causes immense injustice to the litigant seeking justice; it also puts unnecessary burden on the Court and the Government also suffers but the concerned officer who has raised the false claim, does not suffer any action. If the facts given by the officers are found to be false/incorrect by the Court, the Government shall consider taking action and the copy of the judgment be kept in the ACR file of the officer. This will ensure that the officer is held accountable for the actions taken by him in the Court case. State of Sikkim has already framed the Rules for holding its officers accountable for the lapses in the handling of the Court cases, which are reproduced in para 3 below. There is a need to incorporate similar Rules by the Central Government as well as by the GNCTD. 3. The State of Sikkim has enacted Conduct of the Government Litigation Rules, 2000. Chapter-IV titled 'Civil Suit and Other Civil Proceedings' contains Rule 5 which deals with accountability of the office ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ilway Station and hit the boundary wall of the railway station whereupon the boundary wall collapsed which resulted in the death of three people who were sleeping on the pavement outside the boundary wall of the railway station. Two, out of the three dead persons, could not be identified whereas the third dead person was identified as Shahnawaz. 8. The police registered FIR No. 265/2013 at P.S. Old Delhi Railway Station under Section 304A IPC. The police later filed the chargesheet against four employees of Railways in which the charges were framed by the Court. The Railways conducted an enquiry against the four employees who were held guilty and minor punishment was imposed on them. 9. The widow and the children of late Shahnawaz filed an application for compensation of Rs. 4 lakhs before the Railway Claims Tribunal which was vehemently contested by the Railways on the ground that there was no 'untoward incident' under Section 123(c) of the Railways Act and therefore, the claimants were not entitled to any compensation under Section 124A of the Railways Act. 10. Vide judgment dated 28th October, 2014, the Railway Claims Tribunal accepted the Railways objection and dismissed the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... et her parents. She was sitting on the lower berth near the gate when the train was passing slowly through Palwal station. A thief snatched her bag containing valuables and dragged her towards the gate of the coach and in the meanwhile, the accomplice of the thief pushed her from behind because of which she fell down from the train and her left leg got entangled in the footboard of the coach. Both the thieves ran away with the bag. Kiran cried loudly due to the pain whereupon passengers pulled the chain of the train and the train stopped. Kiran was pulled up in the train and the train moved to Old Faridabad Railway Station where the Railway officers and the police were present. Kiran was taken in a police jeep to Escort Fortis Hospital, Faridabad where her left leg was amputated below knee on 24th December, 2011. She was discharged on 05th January, 2012 and was again admitted for another surgery on 21st January, 2012 for debridement skin grafting. She remained hospitalized from 21st January, 2012 to 27th February, 2012. 20. Kiran filed an application for compensation before the Railway Claims Tribunal which was vehemently contested by Railways on various grounds inter alia that sh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 44 reserved through Tatkal). She was sitting on the lower berth near the gate and the train was passing slowly through Palwal station when a boy snatched her bag containing the valuables and she was dragged with the bag towards the gate of the coach. In the meantime, the accomplice of the thief pushed her from behind due to which Kiran fell down from the train and her left leg got entangled with the footboard of the coach. Both the thieves ran away with the bag. Kiran was crying loudly due to the pain whereupon some passenger pulled the chain and the train stopped. One elderly person got down and tied Kiran's leg with a cloth and made her lie down from the train and she was taken out at Old Faridabad Railway Station where the T.T. of Railways took her to Escort Fortis Hospital, Faridabad in the police jeep where her left leg was amputated at below knee level on 24th December, 2011 and she was discharged on 05th January, 2012. She underwent another surgery on 21st January, 2012 for de-bridgement, skin grafting and plaster application. She remained hospitalised from 21st January, 2012 to 27th February, 2017. 4. Kiran filed an application for compensation before the Railway Claims T ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h and other allegations are false and frivolous even to the own knowledge of the petitioner and there is no iota of truth therein. (xi) It is wrong and denied that the applicant was travelling with Tatkal reserved ticket dated 23rd December, 2011 booked on 22nd December, 2011 from Lingampaly Railway Station PNR 465499444 by sleeper class coach S-5 Berth 68. (xii) It is wrong and denied that the left leg of the applicant was amputated below knee on 24th December, 2011 or debridement and skin grafting was on 21st January, 2012 in Fortis Escorts Hospital by doctor Anuj Dogra or she remained under treatment from 24th December, 2011 to 05th January, 2012 and 21st January, 2012 to 27th November, 2012 as alleged. It is wrong and denied that because of amputation of left leg below knee causes problem in walking and working or because of having been pushed out of train and snatching of her bag cash Rs. 20,000/- and gold chain worth Rs. 32,749/- and other personal articles amounting to Rs. 7,000/- were lost or total costs of alleged lost goods comes to Rs. 59,749/-. 5. On 21st November, 2012, the learned Tribunal rejected the objection of territorial jurisdiction and framed the issues ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Tribunal Agreed Procedure which is reproduced hereunder: "29.Claims Tribunal shall deal with the compliance of the provisions in the award In order to implement the new provisions for payment of compensation to the victim of the road accident within 90 days to 120 days of the accident, in true letter and spirit, the Claims Tribunal shall deal with the compliance of the new provisions in the award, especially as to whether there has been any delay or deficiency on the part of the Investigating Officer of the Police and/or the Designated Officer of the Insurance Company. In the event of any delay or deficiency on the part of the Investigating Officer of the Police, the Claims Tribunal may consider recommending adverse entry to be made in the service record of the concerned officer. In case of delay or deficiency on the part of the Designated Officer of the Insurance Company, the Claims Tribunal may consider recommending adverse entry to be made in the service record of the concerned officer or impose cost/penal interest to be recovered from the salary of the officer in default. The format of the check list of the issues required to be dealt with by the Claims Tribunal in its awar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ement Corporation as to why action be not initiated against them for raising false claims. 27. On 07th August, 2017, the Cement Corporation handed over the possession. Cement Corporation also paid the arrears of rent and mesne profits on 12th September, 2017. 28. On 19th September, 2017, Cement Corporation regretted raising false claims before the Trial Court as well as this Court. It was further submitted that Cement Corporation has streamlined the procedure for handling of legal cases. Submissions of Mr. A.S. Chandhiok on Accountability in Government litigation 29. This Court should take judicial notice of the fact that Government of India, State Governments and Public Sector Undertakings are involved in more than 50% of the litigations pending in the Courts and are the biggest litigants. Experience shows that indifference of the Governments has been compelling the citizens in search of reliefs and thus, the Governments / Public Sector Undertakings enjoy the distinction of being the largest litigants in the Courts involving a big draw on public exchequer. 30. Justice Krishna Iyer in Dilbag Rai v. Union of India, AIR 1974 SC 130 took note of the absence of Litigation Policy a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... The relevant portion of the Law Commission Report is reproduced hereunder: "1.9. The present Law Commission charged with a duty to recommend basic reforms in legal justice system was requested by its terms of reference to devise 'the desirability of formulation of the norms which the Government and public sector undertakings should follow in the settlement of disputes including a review of the present system for conduct of litigation on behalf of the Government and such undertakings. The very term of reference equates public sector with Government in the matter of litigation and seeks to distinguish both from individuals and private sector undertakings who indulge in litigation times without number. This subsumes that the Government and public sector undertakings must have their own litigation policy and strategies and they must be devised with a view to encouraging avoidance of litigation and settlement of disputes by alternative methods. Litigation is generally believed to be an unproductive investment both in time and money. Public sector undertakings and the Government have to conserve the resources, determine priorities of expenditure by a judicious approach so that unprodu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... done by supporting the judiciary, while simultaneously strengthening the capacity of the law enforcement arm. We discuss here the support required to improve judicial outcomes. There are over 3 crore cases pending in various courts in the country today. At the very least, current filings need to be disposed off, to prevent accumulation of arrears. The enormous delay in disposal of cases results not only in immense hardship, including those borne by the large number of under-trials, but also hinders economic development. xxx xxx xxx Conditionality: The government is the single largest litigant in the country today. There are a very large number of pending cases where either a State Government or the Central Government is a party, which significantly add to the burden of arrears. It is necessary that all State Governments frame state litigation policies aimed at responsible litigation. The Central Government is planning to put in place a National Litigation Policy shortly. It is proposed that this policy will include steps for: (i) reviewing the existing cases and wherever necessary, withdrawing cases identified as frivolous and vexatious; (ii)formulating norms for defending case ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... by the Govt. of India to frame a National Litigation Policy with a view to ensure conduct of responsible litigation by the Central Govt. and also urged every State Govt. to evolve similar policies. To implement the said Resolution, Govt. of India have launched 'National Litigation Policy' on 23rd June, 2010. The text of the policy has been uploaded in the website of this Department www.lawmin.nic.in/legal.htm. The purpose underlying the said policy is to reduce government litigation in Courts so that valuable court time would be spent in resolving other pending cases so as to achieve the goal in the national legal mission to reduce average pendency time from 15 years to 3 years. To make the said policy successful, all stakeholders will have to play their part - the Ministry of Law & Justice, heads of various Departments, Law Officers and Govt. Counsel and individual officers concerned with litigation. The details of Empowered Committee at the national level and Empowered Committees at the regional level as envisaged in Para 4 (D) of Chapter II of the policy would be communicated to all concerned in due course. The Nodal Officers to be appointed by the Ministries/ Depa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nge of the new values and slogging of old legal thought will be part of the process of the new equity loaded legality. The Judge is a social scientist in the role as a constitutional invigilator. 39. Same is the position with respect to in absence of an effective grievance-resolution mechanism and the Government and its instrumentalities fight their own employees even on technical pleas as observed by the Supreme Court quoted above. In Urban Improvement Trust, Bikaner v. Mohan Lal, (2010) 1 SCC 512, the Supreme Court observed that: "It is a matter of concern that such frivolous and unjust litigations by Governments and statutory authorities are on the increase. Statutory authorities exist to discharge statutory functions in public interest. They should be responsible litigants. They cannot raise frivolous and unjust objections, nor act in a callous and high-handed manner. They cannot behave like some private litigants with profiteering motives. Nor can they resort to unjust enrichment. They are expected to show remorse or regret when their officers act negligently or in an overbearing manner. When glaring wrong acts by their officers are brought to their notice, for which there ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y Hon'ble Court, resort to Alternative Dispute Resolution must be made. 12. The said policy also defines what Responsible Litigant means: * That the litigation has not been resorted to for the sake of litigation * False pleas and technical points are not taken and must be discouraged at all costs. * The factual examination must be done by the person who has knowledge of the facts and he must place on record the correct facts with all relevant documents and then a law officer or a legal expert standing counsel may examine the same on the basis of the settled principles of law. 13. The Policy of 2010 also incorporates that the Government must be ceased to be a compulsive litigant. The philosophy that matters must be let to the Hon'ble Court must be discarded. The easy approach, "let the Court decide" must be eschewed and condemned. 14. The policy also underlined a need to reduce the number of cases and the government litigant and to bring down an average pendency of cases from 15 years to 3 years. 15. The policy also envisages that Nodal Officers would be appointed by heads of the Departments so that the policy is well implemented. 16. Accountability has been incor ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Government, State or Central including the Public Sector Undertakings in their passing of the orders, institution of cases, defending the same and so on and so forth." 40. The presentation 'Action Plan to Reduce Government Litigation, Ministry of Law and Justice' dated 13th June, 2017 by Department of Justice is available at https://doj.gov.in/sites/default/files/action%20plan.pdf. 41. The objective of the meeting noted that it is for considering steps that have been taken by the different departments to reduce pendency. The relevant portions of the said presentation is reproduced hereunder: "As per the information available on the LIMBS website, as on June 12, 2017, 1,35,060 government cases (increased from 1,33,059 since last meeting on June 8, 2017) and 369 contempt cases were pending. Railways with 66,685 cases pending has the highest number of pending cases- 10,464 cases are pending for more than 10 years. xxx xxx xxx Best Practices of Some Ministries/Departments DRDO/Defence Ministry - Ministry of Defence had constituted an expert committee in 2015 to monitor the cases and to analyse and propose changes to reduce litigation in service matters. Monthly monitori ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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