In view of Government departments engaging in legal battle against each other in courts, the Union Government has asked all central ministries to take a unified stand in all legal cases and sort out inter-departmental differences through mutual consultation. He further asked all ministries not to file any counter affidavit without getting it vetted by the law Ministry.
In his note sent last week to all ministries, Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha said that while presenting a unified stand in courts, the ministries have to ensure a common counter-reply is filed on behalf of the Union of India instead of separate affidavits being filed by each department named as respondents.
“It has been observed that at times different Departments take up divergent positions/ individual interpretations in court cases thereby causing avoidable confusion in the submissions finally deliberated upon before the Courts. It may be noted that it is primarily the responsibility of the Administrative Ministry/ Department to take timely action at each stage including filing of a counter affidavit during a Court case after completing necessary consultations with the other Ministries/ Departments concerned,” Sinha said in his note.
Seeking strict compliance of the latest order, Sinha said in case separate counter-affidavits are required to be filed by orders of the Court, the ministries or departments should ensure to do this in consultation with each other for a coordinated approach. “In such cases, a short affidavit endorsing the views of the Administrative Ministry/Department can also be filed,” he said.
The Cabinet secretary underlined the instructions issued by the Ministry of law, Department of legal Affairs from time to time where it has been stipulated that the Ministry/ Department is required to get the counter affidavit vetted from the Department of legal Affairs before filing. “I would, therefore, request you to ensure that differences, if any, in the stand of Ministries/ Departments in any particular court matter are resolved through mutual consultation, as brought out above. It may also be ensured that the counter affidavits are filed only after appropriate vetting by the Department of legal Affairs.
The move comes after it was observed that at times different departments take up divergent positions or make individual interpretations in court cases thereby causing avoidable confusion in the submissions.