Retired judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court K. Kannan and advocates Joseph Prabhakar, K. Ravi and V. Lakshminarayanan have been inducted into the LAOC as legal experts. The committee would also comprise of the Finance Secretary and Law Secretary as official members. The LAOC would offer strategic guidance to the Finance Department as well as the

Govt. constitutes committee to monitor litigations involving huge financial implications The committee will suggest strategies and course corrections to the Finance Department and the A-G
The State government has constituted a Litigation Advisory and Oversight Committee (LAOC) to monitor all high risk litigations related to taxation, land acquisition, government tenders and so on to ensure that public interest was effectively protected and the financial resources accrue to the government without delay.

The committee has been constituted following Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan’s announcement made on the floor of the Legislative Assembly during the revised Budget speech for 2021-22 that he would put in place a Litigation Risk Management System (LRMS) to be overseen by retired judges and legal experts.

Accordingly, a Government Order issued by the Finance Department on Sunday created LRMS, at an annual recurring cost of ₹80.80 lakh, to identify and bring high risk litigations (where the quantum of public money involved was huge) to the notice of the nodal department as well as the Finance Department.

Retired judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court K. Kannan and advocates Joseph Prabhakar, K. Ravi and V. Lakshminarayanan have been inducted into the LAOC as legal experts. The committee would also comprise of the Finance Secretary and Law Secretary as official members.

The LAOC would offer strategic guidance to the Finance Department as well as the Administrative Department concerned regarding the high risk cases. LRMS would also create a mechanism for consultation between the Finance Department, the LAOC and the office of the Advocate General and implement[pdf-embedder url=”https://sekarreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Risk-Management-System_G.O.D_18-Dated-19.03.2022.pdf” title=”Risk Management System_G.O.(D)_18, Dated 19.03.2022″][pdf-embedder url=”https://sekarreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Risk-Management-System_G.O.D_18-Dated-19.03.2022.pdf” title=”Risk Management System_G.O.(D)_18, Dated 19.03.2022″]ing their suggestions.

Defining ‘high risk litigation,’ the G.O. states that all taxation cases where the claim against an individual or entity was over ₹100 crore, cases in which a judicial decision could cause a revenue loss of ₹500 crore or more and cases related to tenders where the procurement value was more than ₹1,000 crore would fall under the definition.

It also clarifies that all government departments, public sector undertakings, statutory boards, universities, municipal corporations and other local bodies would be covered under LRMS and that it could be later expanded to cover even the cooperative societies and other major societies controlled by the government.

The LAOC would suggest strategies to reduce financial risk due to litigation and to anticipate litigation. It would also consider the multiple approaches and line of arguments to be adopted before judicial forums in high risk litigations and advise the government accordingly. It could also suggest a settlement to minimise financial loss.

The committee would monitor the progress of cases after each major hearing and suggest midcourse corrections, if any. It would further monitor compliance with adverse orders, after exhausting all avenues of appeal, in order to avoid excess costs such as penal interest for delay.