Union ministries of finance, railways, defence, labour and employment and home are the "top five litigants" amongst the government, Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
In a written reply, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said seeking to reduce litigation, ministries and departments such as the railways and the Department of Revenue, involved in a high number of litigations, have been taking several measures for reducing the number of court cases.
Citing data available on the Legal Information Management and Briefing System (LIMBS) portal, he said the finance ministry has 1.73 lakh pending cases, including 9,062 in the Supreme Court.
The railways ministry has 1.08 lakh pending cases, including 554 in the top court, while the defence ministry has over 85,000 pending cases, which include 1,235 in the Supreme Court.
The labour and employment ministry is party to over 78,000 pending cases, including 320 in the top court. The home ministry has over 23,000 pending cases in various courts and tribunals, including 968 in the Supreme Court.
Mr Rijiju said the Ministry of Railways has issued instructions for effective monitoring of court cases at all levels.
Zonal railways and production units have been asked to take effective steps to reduce the number of cases in which the government is a party and reduce the burden of courts, expedite finalisation of all cases in all courts at the earliest, and cut down the expenditure in contesting court cases, he said.
"For achieving this, emphasis has been laid on effective monitoring of cases by having regular meetings with empanelled advocates, for briefing and necessary directions to be given at the highest level, besides ensuring timely submission of replies, counter replies and necessary documents to the advocates," the minister said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
Defence Ministry Signs Rs 7,628-Crore Contract With L&T For Vajra Artillery Guns Defence Ministry Signs Rs 26,000 Crore Deal For Engines For Su-30MKI Jets Security Agencies Detect Fake Defence Ministry Links Targeting Sensitive Info Pics: Rahul Gandhi's Family Lunch At Iconic Delhi Restaurant Donald Trump Appoints Indian-American, Elon Musk Aide As AI Advisor Can Elon Musk Become US President? Donald Trump Says... 'Sunny Leone' Got Rs 1000/Month Under Chhattisgarh Scheme For Married Women 2 Toddlers Among 3 Dead After Truck Runs Over People On Pune Footpath Why Chinese Women Are Doing Maternity Photoshoots With Fake Baby Bumps Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.