Government lawyers should not consider other party as an opponent but as an aggrieved person: Advocate General Prabhuling Navadgi

Lawyers appearing for government should consider the other party/ side as an aggrieved person and not as an opponent, Advocate General (AG) of the Karnataka, Prabhuling Navadgi, said on Saturday..They should not be treated as an opponent but as a person who has come to court because of some wrongs in the system, Navadgi added. "I always encourage my colleagues.....to never treat a person who comes to court as your opponent, but treat him as an aggrieved person. Here is a citizen who has come because there is something wrong with the system," he said. .Navadgi was speaking at the launch of the Karnataka State Dispute Resolution Policy, 2021 along with a Coffee Table Book, titled 'The Leader of the Bar'. The event was inaugurated by Karnataka Chief Minister, BS Yediyurappa on Saturday with Additional Advocate General Dhyan Chinnappa delivering the welcome address. .The Coffee Table Book titled was released on account of 75 years of the office of the Advocate General. The book traces the history of the Advocate General's office and contains details of the previous AGs of the State. .Navadgi also spoke on the salient features of the policy which includes: having an exclusive information technology cell, to enhance quality of representation, i.e., choosing law officers and the effective implementation of policy. .During the course of his speech, it was further highlighted that the Dispute Resolution Policy 2021 which he said seeks to instill a sense of accountability in every stakeholder. .In this light, it was pointed out that Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) has become the State policy for Dispute Resolution. Navadgi also conceded that Centre and State governments were the biggest litigants in the country. A similar view was shared by Karnataka High Court judge, Justice SR Bannurmath, who graced the dias with the other dignitaries. "It is right to say that the government, Centre or State, are the biggest litigants in India. As per the Ministry of Law and Justice, nearly 48% of the cases, the government is a party, in one or the other side," said Justice Bannurmath. .In Karnataka High Court alone, more than 4 lakh cases are pending, in which State is a party..This phenomenon, though not exclusive to Karnataka, is generally attributed to lack of law officers, poor infrastructure and unnecessary adjournments, Justice Bannurmath opined. .Justice P Vishwanatha Shetty, in his address, stressed on the effective implementation of Dispute Resolution Policy. Everyone should take the policy seriously, he said.