The Supreme Court in New Delhi said that 40% of legal cases pursued by the Central and state governments are unimportant. The bench, led by Justice B R Gavai, mentioned that two young women had represented the Union of India in two different cases. The court said that if an additional solicitor general (ASG) had argued the matters, they would have dismissed it with a cost of Rs 10 lakh. The bench also commented that they did not want to impose in the matters where young counsel represented the government.
Justice Gavai noted that the state or Union should not waste public funds on cases that involve small amounts of money. “For a matter which involves Rs 700 per month, the state or Union must have spent Rs 7 lakh and that too from the public exchequer…” he stated. The bench, including Justices Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol, made these observations when a counsel sought to mention a case.
The bench said that the government should try to eliminate such unnecessary litigation. It further commented that poor employees are receiving Rs 50,000 or Rs 60,000 in addition. After the court’s remarks, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta resumed his submissions, arguing a matter involving a batch of petitions challenging the extension given to the ED director.
