Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, June 28: Not only on the release of funds for payment of salaries to 38 Magistrates and staff of the courts created on the recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission, the Finance Department is also soft-paddling on the proposal of the Law Department for establishment of legal cells in all the Administrative Departments despite being aware of the fact that this proposal involves only meager financial implication.
Due to non-serious approach of those at the helm of affairs in the Finance Department, the Law Department is finding it difficult to implement the vital part of the State Litigation Policy, which otherwise can help in effectively watching the interests of the Government while defending various cases in the courts of law and avoid indulgence of the State into unnecessary litigations.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that State Litigation Policy, which was formulated in 2011, lays enough thrust on avoiding unnecessary litigation against the State and disposal of matters administratively without the intervention of courts. In this regard, the Policy suggests that every Administrative Department shall have an effective legal cell headed by a Law Officer and Nodal Officer of Administrative Department with full-fledged qualified staff.
The establishment of legal cell in all the Administrative Departments on the analogy of Planning Department’s units in such departments is also imperative as Law Department acts as a support system for all the departments by laying the legal roadmap and offering legal opinion, which subsequently helps in checking unnecessary litigations against the State.
Keeping all these aspects into mind, the Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Syed Basharat Bukhari in the month of March this year found it appropriate to immediately establish legal cells in all the Administrative Departments, official sources told EXCELSIOR.
Accordingly, some officers of the Law Department were assigned the task of working out the additional manpower required for such cells and financial implications involved in the same.
Acting on the directions of the Minister, the Law Department officers formulated a proposal for creation of posts for such cells and then submitted all the details to the Finance Department for approval. It was also mentioned in the proposal that such cells would guide in ensuring proper coordination between departments and Government counsels in fighting cases in the courts of law, which is missing at present.
“However, the Finance Department has not taken any decision on the proposal of Law Department till date despite the fact that meager financial implication is involved in establishing legal cells”, sources regretted while disclosing that less than 100 posts are required to be created for such cells and there would not be more than Rs one crore annual implication.
They disclosed that non-serious approach is notwithstanding the fact that even Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Department has personally taken up the issue with the top officers of the Finance Department during meetings on different subjects.
“Now, the Law Minister has decided to formally convene meeting of all the Administrative Secretaries including the Principal Secretary Finance so that all the issues concerning establishment of legal cells are addressed from a common platform and the proposal of Law Department takes formal shape”, sources revealed.
Further highlighting importance of such cells in the Administrative Departments, sources said, “the officers posted in these cells would ensure timely receipt of copies of various directions from the courts and examination of the same so that all legal issues are properly addressed, the delay in which otherwise puts Government and its senior functionaries in embarrassment and invites adverse remarks from the judiciary”.
It is pertinent to mention here that this is the second major proposal of the Law Department on which the Finance Department is soft-paddling. The Finance Department has yet not taken any decision on proposal regarding release of funds for paying salaries to 38 Magistrates and staff of the courts created on the recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission. These Magistrates are without salary for the past several months due to delay in decision on the part of Finance Department.
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