To cut litigation, dispose of legal notices on priority: CS

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 27

To reduce litigation against the Haryana Government, Chief Secretary DS Dhesi has directed the departments concerned to dispose of legal notices in a time-bound manner.

“As soon as the legal notice is served on any department asking for relief, the same should be decided expeditiously in accordance with relevant rules and by passing a detailed order,” a circular from the Chief Secretary to departments concerned said here today.

The circular underlined that earlier orders of the state government and State Litigation Policy, 2010, also provided for quick disposal of representations and legal notices served on the state government under Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC).

Section 80 of the CPC provided for sending a notice to the government or a public officer if one wants to institute a suit against the government or against a public officer in respect of any act purporting to be done by such public officer in his official capacity. The object of the notice is to give the public officer an opportunity to reconsider his legal position and to make amends or afford restitution without recourse to a court of law.

“A large number of cases come before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, wherein the grievances are that legal notices or representations are not being decided or delayed by the state government. Generally, the court asks the government to decide the representation within a specific time. If the government disposed of the notice at the first instance, it would reduce the burden of the court,” the order said.

The order underlined that “whenever a legal notice under Section 80 has been properly disposed of, this fact be clearly mentioned in the preliminary submission in the subsequent civil suit/writ petition to be filed to strengthen the defenceor reply of the government”.