law-min-for-curbing-practice-of-deptts-filing-appeals-in-courts

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghal on Saturday criticised government departments for filing appeals by default in a routine manner even when the court and tribunal orders are legally sound.

 

The Union Minister said there was a need to curb tendency among government departments to challenge to court orders.Addressing a conference of Central Administrative Tribunal here, he said at times, government departments go for appeal despite courts delivering sound judgements.He indicated that sometimes appeals are filed to challenge court or CAT orders by officers to save their skin as the judgments have questioned decisions taken by them.Meghwal said he gets files on a regular basis where central departments are planning to file appeals against sound court orders.

He said CAT has to use latest technology such as e-filing and virtual hearings to ensure that geography does not become an obstacle in delivery of justice.He also lauded the role of the tribunal in lowering the case load of the Supreme Court and the high courts.  stated that departments and serving officials challenge every order as a matter of routine and when the concerned officer retires, the government is informed that there was no need to file the appeal.

 

We must correct this practice and this tendency of automatic appeals needs to be reconsidered, he underscored."If we look at the functioning of our tribunals, CAT for instance, it was set up as the foundation of justice for our civil servants. Yet, we often see that departments take a routine approach. Even when the order is correct, officials insist, ‘We must file an appeal.’ Sometimes, an officer may have once noted in writing that a decision was incorrect. Later, if the tribunal rules in favour of the other side, departments feel compelled to appeal simply because of that earlier note. And then, after the officer retires, we are told that there was no need to appeal at all," the minister said.

 

Even when the order is correct, officials insist that ‘we must file an appeal.’Meghwal made the statement at the 10th All India Conference of the Central Administrative Tribunal, 2025.Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Attorney General R Venkataramani also spoke at the gathering.