Parliament Watch: Centre spent ₹272 crore on litigation in last 5 years; 76% of High Court appointees since 2018 from general category

On the second day of the 2023 Monsoon Session of Indian Parliament, the Law Ministry answered questions in the Lok Sabha on government litigation, representation of minorities in the judiciary and drafting of legislation..Jhalawar-Baran Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Dushyant Singh sought data related to cases that involve the Central government as a party.According to the Legal Information Management & Briefing System (LIMBS) portal, there are currently 6,36,605 pending cases involving the government across various courts.Out of these, the Ministry of Railways is a party in 1,10,245 cases, while the Finance and Defence Ministries are parties in 1,79,464 and 87,543 cases, respectively. Additionally, the Ministry of Labour and Employment is involved in 80,117 of these cases.Government expenditure on these cases over the last five financial years was ₹272,01,21,567. The year-wise split is as follows:.Gadchiroli–Chimur Lok Sabha MP Ashok Nete sought information on cases settled in courts across the country.The Law Ministry revealed that since 2020, the Supreme Court has disposed of 1,07,651 cases. Of these, 36,436 were disposed of last year. This year so far has seen close to 26,000 cases being disposed. The year-wise data follows:.During the same time frame, the country's High Courts disposed of 42,76,978 cases. The year-wise details are as follows:.Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi, among other things, asked whether it was true that 79% judges appointed in all High Courts during the last five years were from upper castes, indicating inequitable representation of backward classes and minorities..The Ministry's reply stated that based on the information provided by the recommendees for elevation as High Court judges, 458 judges out of the 604 appointed since 2018 belonged to the General Category. This amounts to about 76%.There are 18 judges from Scheduled Castes (SC), 9 from Scheduled Tribes (ST), 72 judges from Other Backward Classes (OBC), and 34 judges from minorities.For the remaining 13 judges, no information is available..Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha MP DK Suresh asked whether the government was aware that faulty drafting of legislation was one of the main reasons for ambiguous litigation in High Courts and the Supreme Court.He also asked whether the government proposed to take assistance from retired judges and senior advocates in drafting accurate legislation..The Ministry said that it did not propose to take such assistance and stated that the Legislative Department had been taking steps to ensure simple, plain, precise and unambiguous legislation drafting..Efforts were also being made to aim at clarity of expressions and use of appropriate words and expressions, the Ministry added.It was further revealed that the Legislative Department has requested all ministries and departments of the government to ensure that legislative policies are made simple, non-complex and framed in easy to understand language. "Further, draft persons are also given suitable training. As the process of drafting of laws is continuous and ongoing one, the Legislative Department will continue in its efforts to draft laws which are precise and accurate," the reply stated..[Read Questions]