NEW DELHI: Cabinet secretary T V Somanathan has directed secretaries of ministries and departments to identify cases that can be withdrawn following decriminalisation of several offences under Jan Vishwas Act and removal of obsolete legal provisions. They have been asked to complete the exercise by the end of this month.The move is part of govt’s efforts to reduce its litigation burden and avoid pursuing cases that may have lost their relevance following changes in the legal framework. The review will cover cases affected by amendments under Act and other legal reforms.Currently, there are over 3.5 lakh litigations involving central govt pending for more than five years, including over one lakh legacy cases across 19 high courts. According to a presentation, the revenue department has the highest number of cases pending for more than five years at 1.27 lakh, followed by railways (45,583), department of military affairs (32,464), labour and employment (28,822) and corporate affairs (27,109).
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Officials said some ministries, including road transport, defence and telecommunications, may have fewer pending cases, but the financial implications of these litigations are likely to be substantially higher.In two rounds under Jan Vishwas legislations, in 2023 and 2026, several sections of different central laws have been decriminalised and rationalised by introducing compliance provisions.TOI has learnt that while chairing a meeting of all secretaries, Somanathan informed them that a dedicated “litigation management portal” will be launched in Nov to monitor the functioning of litigation management cells, review of legacy litigations and appeals, mediation and screening of cases. Ministries and departments will have to regularly update the status of cases.