Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh
The Central Government is facing a massive backlog of more than 356,000 lawsuits that have been pending for over five years. To ensure their speedy resolution and improve litigation management, the government has directed all ministries and departments to establish Legal Management Cells (LMCs). However, a recent review has revealed that 41 ministries and departments have yet to establish these cells.
During a review of litigation governance chaired by Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan, officials reported a total of 356,215 long-pending cases. Of these, 105,809 cases are pending before 19 High Courts across the country. The Department of Revenue tops the list in terms of pending litigation, with 127,675 cases.
It is followed by the Ministry of Railways with 45,583 cases, the Department of Military Affairs with 32,464 cases, the Ministry of Labour and Employment with 28,822 cases, and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs with 27,109 cases.
The review also revealed that a training programme for officials under the Litigation Governance initiative had been proposed for September 2026. However, it could not be conducted because the ministries failed to nominate officials for the programme.
The government has directed the remaining 41 ministries and departments to establish Legal Management Cells by the end of November. They have also been instructed to identify cases that can be withdrawn or resolved through mutual consent and mediation.
The government is also planning to launch a Litigation Management Portal this month. All ministries will be required to update details of their pending cases on the portal. It will help monitor case reviews, appeals, mediation and the overall disposal process.
The government’s objective is to reduce unnecessary litigation and ensure the faster resolution of pending cases within the judicial system.
