SRINAGAR: Minister for Law and Justice Abdul Haq today reviewed the status of various court cases of the different departments pending in Jammu wing of JK High Court.
The meeting was attended by Advocate General Jehangir Iqbal Ganai, Secretary Law Abdul Majid Bhat, Additional Secretary Law, Achal Sethi, Director Litigations, Additional Advocate Generals, Law Officers and standing counsels of various departments.
The minister interacted with all the law officers and standing counsels of different departments and sought the update of various cases pending in High Court. The law Minister also reviewed the progress on the identification of frivolous litigations pending in courts which can be withdrawn by providing justice to the aggrieved outside the court.
The minister reiterated that the government will shun the practice of carrying on law suits that, due to their lack of legal merit, have little to no chance of being won. He said this leads to denial of justice to the aggrieved persons by dragging them in the courts unnecessarily.
He said it is the duty of the Law officers and the counsels to read the cases properly and if they find there is shortcomings or a mistake committed by the government, then the same shall be communicated to the concerned to rectify the mistake instead of wasting time in pleading the cases blindly.
“If the counsel is satisfied that the government is at fault in some cases, there is no reason to go to court if justice can be provided to the aggrieved outside the court. That will save the time of the aggrieved person,” he said adding that deliberate delay of justice amounts to the denial of justice. He said most such cases pertaining to the service matters including transfers, postings, appointments where we can provide justice to the people outside the court.
The Minister said it is the duty of law officers to guide the Government as well as the concerned department about the prospect of each case that is about to go for litigation and in case law officer finds any wrong done by the department, same shall be communicated to the department to rectify and avoid go for frivolous litigations.
The Minister directed for filing time-bound replies and fixing responsibilities of concerned officers on case to case basis to avoid delays and achieving the desired results. He directed for putting serious and honest efforts to attend to the grievances of complainants expeditiously on merit to ensure minimum possible litigations.
The law minister called upon the Law officers to adopt proactive approach in handling court cases and follow the court proceedings religiously to ensure speedy deliverance of justice. He said the department is monitoring the performance of the Law officers dealing with the cases in various courts and appropriate action will be initiated against the non-performing officials.
He said the government won’t allow stagnation of employees and instead is working to facilitate avenues for their career progression. He said the department issued order of promotion this week wherein about 125 employees were promoted including gazetted and non-gazetted cadre. Giving details, he said promoted officials include 11 Additional Secretaries, 15 Senior Law Officers, 13 Deputy Secretaries, 10 ALO/PLO, One Private Secretary and one Administrative Officers.
Under Non Gazetted Cadre the promoted officials include 5 legal Assistants, 12 Junior Legal Assistants, one Senior Scale Stenographer, 15 Senior Assistants, 12 Junior Assistants and one copiest. Under DPC reports, the promoted officials include 2 Section Officers, 3 Senior Stenographers, 2 head Assistants, 8 Senior Assistants, 19 Junior Assistants and four Jamadars.
Responding to various grievances, the minister assured that the supporting staff for the law Officers of the High Court will be strengthened and also assured that the adequate accommodation will be provided to them in the high court.
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