ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Law and Justice has directed Ministries/Divisions to work on Case Assignment and Management System (CAMS) and diligently pursue all cases in courts of laws and tribunals especially where there are time-limits on filing response, appeals and review petitions.
These directions were issued to all the top bosses of Ministries and Departments in the light of Prime Minister’s directive according to which delayed appeals/response by the concerned Ministries/Departments, especially in time-barred cases, are causing irretrievable loss to the government.
All ministries and divisions: PM to take action against officials who fail to file ICAs, CPLAs
Law Ministry has asked all the Ministries/Divisions/Departments to strictly adhere to the following instructions: (i) all Ministries/Divisions shall work on Case Assignment and Management System (CAMS) for tracking cases/appeals filed by litigants, to be updated regularly;(ii) the cases/appeals must be pursued/followed up vigorously in the concerned Courts and Tribunals till their final outcome in coordination with the Ministry of Law and Justice; (iii) ICAs/CPLAS must be filed before the competent forums within the stipulated period, failing which responsibility shall be fixed and punitive action shall be taken against the defaulter; and (iv) in appeal cases, para 20 & 21 of the Appendix F of Secretariat Instructions, shall be complied with, reproduced as under:-
20: If the decision is either wholly or partially adverse, to the Government, the matter should be reported immediately to the Solicitor, complete record of the case along with copies of judgment and decree-sheet and comments of the department should be sent to him thereafter as soon as these copies become available.
21: although time is the essence in litigation in general, in appeal it is of utmost importance because the time allowed for appeals is limited and appeals filed after the expiration of limitation period are ordinarily dismissed as barred by time and no appeal lies against the refusal of a court to condone delay.
It is, therefore, very necessary that the litigation cases in general and appeals in particular should be handled with promptness and diligence. When time left for filing an appeal is less than 7 days an officer of the administrative department, not below the rank of Deputy Secretary, should bring the file personally to the solicitor.
Law Ministry argues that the concise statement/para-wise comments/Objections to the Appeal and other relevant documents asked by the Courts/Tribunals may be provided promptly, preferably within 7 days of the receipt of nomination letter of the concerned law officer to the government department.
The government departments have also been directed to ensure that an additional copy of the comments and documents is provided to the concerned law officer. It is not enough that only the Court is provided with the comments and not the Law officer as that will leave the law officer in the dark and creates unnecessary problems.
The Government Departments have a number of cases in different courts/tribunals specifically appeals and each case is assigned to a different officer of the department. This creates problems for the concerned law officer as it is very difficult to get hold of the relevant Officer to whom the case is assigned. It is therefore recommended that each Government Department should nominate a dedicated focal person through whom all the correspondence pertaining to the case should take place.
Further, for the sake of convenience the mobile number of the said focal person should be provided to all the law officers and the Division for better and prompt future coordination.
Law Ministry maintains that there is an overreliance on the fax machine. Although the fax machines have advantages but it is too time-consuming. In most cases by the time the message reaches the relevant individual it is too late in the day and the hearing is looming large. It was, therefore, suggested that the law officers and the concerned Officers should liaise more frequently through emails.
Law Ministry further directed that Departmental Representative not below the rank of BS-17 officer, supposed to be well conversant with the facts of the case, should be bound to provide relevant documents along with all annexures and brief the concerned Law Officer at least a day before the date of hearing and also attend the Courts as and when required.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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