law Minister Dr Arun Kumar Sahoo on Monday directed the concerned authorities to submit a detailed report on the progress of implementation of the State litigation Policy and achievements made so far. Earlier, the authorities had been asked to put forward such reports in August 2014. later, the Minister also on March 26 asked for the report in the appropriate format through the Chief Secretary.
Notably, the 13th Finance Commission has accepted the Odisha litigation Policy introduced in 2011 on lines with the National litigation Policy. The Policy is aimed at lessening unsettled Government cases in a time-bound manner through a responsible case management approach. This Policy provides for opportunities in instilling trustworthiness in citizens for smooth disposal of cases by the Government. Every department would have a nodal officer to ensure inter-departmental coordination vis-à-vis case management. Besides, there are also provisions that all possible efforts would be made to settle cases against the Government before the litigants approach courts to seek justice.
Provisions also envisage that a State-level empowered committee headed by the Chief Secretary and district-level empowered committees headed by district Collectors would take decisions regarding cases and review the same at regular intervals. The Minister said appropriate steps would be taken after the reports are received from the authorities.