The Indian Law Ministry has issued a statement urging government agencies to use fast track dispute resolution to work through the backlog of court cases awaiting resolution. From The Times of India:
“NEW DELHI: The law ministry has asked government departments to go for online arbitration to fast track dispute resolution… ‘Presently there are more than three crore cases pending in various courts of the country and 46% of these involve government departments or government bodies. Hence, the department of justice is keen to explore options for government departments for settlement of their disputes through alternate methods,’ the ministry has said.
To cut litigation, ministries have been advised not to go to court for their disputes and instead opt for arbitration. ‘This may help courts to concentrate on access to justice to people in better manner,’ the ministry noted. Many of these agencies provide services of retired judges, senior advocates, chartered accountants, retired civil servants for mediation. Providing a list of such agencies on its website, the law ministry has said the departments may select from them according to their choice and can use their services which will ‘help to a great extent in reducing government litigations’.”