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1 REPORT NO. 96 PARLIAMENT OF INDIA RAJYA SABHA DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON PERSONNEL PUBLIC GRIEVANCES LAW AND JUSTICE NINENTY-SIXTH REPORT on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Ministry of Law and Justice (Presented to the Rajya Sabha on 14 th March, 2018) (Laid on the Table of Lok Sabha on 14 th March, 2018) Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi March, 2018 / Phalguna 1939 (Saka)

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3 CS (P & L) PARLIAMENT OF INDIA RAJYA SABHA DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES, LAW AND JUSTICE NINENTY-SIXTH REPORT on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Ministry of Law and Justice (Presented to the Rajya Sabha on 14 th March, 2018) (Laid on the Table of Lok Sabha on 14 th March, 2018) Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi March, 2018 / Phalguna 1939 (Saka)

4 ACRONYMS ATFE BCI CEO CJI CSS DEO ECI ERO EVM ICADR ICT ILI ITAT NALSA NITI NJA NJDG MCC SOP SVEEP UTRCs UNDP VVPAT Appellate Tribunal of Foreign Exchange Bar Council of India Chief Electoral Officer Chief Justice of India Centrally Sponsored Scheme District Election Officers Election Commission of India Electoral Registration Officer Electronic Voting Machine International Centre for Alternate Dispute Resolution Information Communication Technology Indian Law Institute Income Tax Appellate Tribunal National Legal Services Authority National Institute for Transforming India National Judicial Academy National Judicial Data Grid Model Code of Conduct Standard Operating Procedure Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation Under Trial Review Committees United Nations Development Programme Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail

5 C O N T E N T S PAGES 1. COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE (i) 2. INTRODUCTION (ii) 3. REPORT (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) CHAPTER - I BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE MINISTRY CHAPTER II OVERVIEW OF THE BUDGET ALLOCATIONS FOR CHAPTER III DEMAND NO. 61 : LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT CHAPTER IV DEMAND NO. 62 : ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA CHAPTER V DEMAND NO. 61 : DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AFFAIRS CHAPTER VI DEMAND NO. 61 : DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CHAPTER VII DEMAND NO. 63 : SUPREME COURT OF INDIA 4. RECOMMENDATIONS/OBSERVATIONS AT A GLANCE *5. RELEVANT MINUTES OF THE MEETINGS OF THE COMMITTEE *To be appended at printing stage.

6 COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE (Re-constituted on 1 st September, 2017) 1. Shri Bhupender Yadav Chairman RAJYA SABHA 2. Shri Swapan Dasgupta 3. Shri Prabhat Jha 4. Shri Majeed Memon 5. Shrimati Rajani Patil 6. Shri D. Raja 7. Dr. K. Keshava Rao 8. Shri Sukhendu Sekhar Ray 9. * Shri Vivek K. Tankha 10. #Dr. Subramanian Swamy LOK SABHA 11. Shri Tariq Anwar 12. Dr. Sanjeev Balyan 13. Shri Kalyan Banerjee 14. Shri Sharadkumar Maruti Bansode 15. Shri A.H. Khan Choudhury 16. Adv. Joice George 17. Shri Radadiya Vithalbhai Hansrajbhai 18. Shri Pralhad Joshi 19. Shri Mehboob Ali Kaiser 20. Adv. M. Udhaya Kumar 21. Shrimati Meenakashi Lekhi 22. Shri Bhagwant Mann 23. Shri B.V. Naik 24. Shri Vincent H. Pala 25. Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy 26. Dr. A. Sampath 27. Shri Ram Prasad Sarmah 28. Shri V. Panner Selvam 29. Shri Varaprasad Rao Velagapalli 30. Adv. Anshul Verma Vacant SECRETARIAT Shri P.P.K. Ramacharyulu, Additional Secretary Shri K.P. Singh, Joint Secretary Smt. Sunita Sekaran, Director Shri Ashok K. Sahoo, Addl. Director Smt. Chanderlekha Sharma, Under Secretary * Nominated w.e.f. 30 th November,.2017 vice Shri Anand Sharma who resigned w.e.f. 10 th November, Vacancy caused due to changed the nomination of Shri Santosh Kumar w.e.f. 3 rd November, # Nominated w.e.f. 7 th March,.2018 vice Shri Tiruchi Siva who resigned w.e.f. 21 st February, (i)

7 INTRODUCTION I, the Chairman of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, having been authorised by the Committee to submit the Report on its behalf, do hereby present this Ninety-sixth Report on Demands for Grants ( ) pertaining to the Ministry of Law and Justice. 2. In accordance with the constitutional requirement under Article 113, the estimated expenditure of Ministries/Departments of Government of India projected under various Demands for Grants for the upcoming financial year need to be voted by Parliament. As a sequel thereto, Demands for Grants of the relevant Ministries/Departments stand referred to concerned Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee to make a close scrutiny thereof under Rule 270 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States. While making scrutiny of Demands for Grants, the Committee has made an appraisal of performance, programme, policies of the Ministry of Law and Justice vis-à-vis expenditure made out of Consolidated Fund of India in the current financial year. 3. In the Report, scrutiny of Demand Nos. 61, 62 and 63 pertaining to the Ministry of Law & Justice, Election Commission of India (ECI) and Supreme Court of India, respectively, for the financial year has been made by the Committee. 4. During the course of examination of the above Demands, the Committee heard the views of the Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs; Secretary, Legislative Department; Secretary, Department of Justice; Deputy Election Commissioners, Election Commission of India; the Registrars, Supreme Court of India; Member-Secretary, Law Commission of India; Registrar, Indian Law Institute; President, Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Member- Secretary, National Legal Services Authority and Registrar, National Judicial Academy in its sitting held on the 23 rd February, The Committee, while making its observations/recommendations, has mainly relied upon the following:- (i) Presentations made by the respective Secretaries of the three Departments of the Ministry; (ii) Presentations made by the heads of Organizations under administrative control of the Ministry; (iii) Detailed Demands for Grants of the Ministry, Election Commission of India and Supreme Court of India for the year ; (iv) Detailed Explanatory Notes on the Demands for Grants ( ) received from the Ministry, Election Commission of India and Supreme Court of India; (v) Annual Report of the Ministry for the year and the latest available Annual Reports of the agencies/attached offices of the Ministry; (vi) Written replies furnished by the Ministry and organizations/offices of the Ministry to the Questionnaires sent by the Secretariat; and (vii) Written clarifications to the points/issues raised by Members in the meeting of the Committee. 6. The Report is based on facts, figures and submission (both oral and written) tendered by Department/Institutions under the Ministry, to the Committee. (ii)

8 7. The Committee considered and adopted the Report in its sitting held on the 13 th March, 2018 and presented to both Houses of Parliament on 14 th March, For facility of reference and convenience, the observations and recommendations of the Committee have been printed in bold letters in the body of the Report. New Delhi; BHUPENDER YADAV 13 th March, 2018 Chairman, Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel Public Grievances Law and Justice (iii)

9 R E P O R T CHAPTER - I BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE MINISTRY INTRODUCTION 1. The Ministry of Law and Justice owes its origin to the Charter Act, 1833 enacted by the British Parliament. In accordance with the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, the Ministry comprises three Departments, namely, Department of Legal Affairs, Legislative Department and Department of Justice. The key mandate of the Ministry is to provide policy support in administration of Justice; furnishing of legal advice to Government of India and defend Government of India in various Courts and Tribunals and draft Supreme and Subordinate legislations for Government of India, etc. DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AFFAIRS 1.1. The Department of Legal Affairs has a two-tier set-up, namely, the Main Secretariat at New Delhi and Branch Secretariats at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru. The Department tenders legal advice to all Ministries and Departments of Govt. of India. It defends Govt. of India in all Courts and Tribunals where Govt. of India is a party. It appoints Attorney General of India, Solicitor General of India, Additional Solicitor Generals of India and Assistant Solicitor Generals of India. In addition, Govt. Counsel are also engaged to defend Govt. of India in various courts across the country. It is responsible for maintenance of standards of legal profession and legal education and is associated with legal reform also. It is also responsible for appointment and renewal of Notaries across the country. Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Indian Legal Service and Law Commission of India are within the administrative control of the Department. The Department has launched Legal Information Management and Briefing System to monitor conduct of cases on behalf of Central Government/Organisation/Departments etc its administrative control It inter-alia administers the Advocate Act, 1961, the Advocate Welfare Fund Act, 2001, the Notaries Act 1952 and the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, It has also taken initiatives to improve India s ranking in Ease of Doing Business Report (World Bank) by strengthening contract enforcement and arbitration mechanism. 1

10 1.3. Following Institutions/organizations are under the overall supervision of the Department of Legal Affairs:- (a) Law Commission of India: - The Law Commission of India is a non-statutory body, constituted by the Government once in three years. The present Commission, the Twenty-first Law Commission of India, was constituted with effect from 1 st September, 2015 and will continue till 31 st August, It is headed by Dr. Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan and has two full-time Members, one Member-Secretary, two Ex-officio Members and three part-time Members. (b) Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT): - ITAT is one of the oldest Tribunals, set up under Section 252 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to hear appeals against orders passed by authorities mentioned under Section 253 of the IT Act. It has 63 Benches covering all cities having seat of High Courts. (c) Bar Council of India (BCI): - The Bar Council of India is a statutory body constituted under Section 4 of the Advocates Act, 1961, and it has been empowered, among other things, to lay down standards of professional conduct and etiquette for lawyers, and to maintain and improve the standards of legal education in the country. (d) International Centre for Alternate Dispute Resolution (ICADR):- The International Centre for Alternate Dispute Resolution was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 on 31 st May It is an autonomous organisation working under the aegis of the Department. (e) Indian Law Institute (ILI):- The Indian Law Institute is a premier legal research institute founded on 27 th December, The prime objective of the Institute is to promote advanced studies and research in law and to contribute substantially in reforming the administration of Justice, so as to meet the socioeconomic aspirations of the people through law and its instrumentalities. The Institute has been granted Deemed University status in the year LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT 1.4. One of the primary responsibilities of the Legislative Department is to draft bills on behalf of Ministries and Departments of Govt. of India. In addition, Ordinance promulgated by the President of India, Regulation made by President of India for Union Territories, Electoral Laws and Electoral reforms, maintenance of the updated Central Legislation since 2

11 1836 under Bharat Sanhita (India Code) and authoritative translation of Central Legislation and Constitution of India under the Authoritative Text (Central Laws) Act 1973, Publication and preparation of standard legal terminology, etc. are also assigned to the Department under Allocation of Business Rules, It inter-alia administers Personnel laws, Electoral laws, the Indian Contract Act, 1872, the Evidence Act, 1872, the Indian Trust Act, 1882, the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the Limitation Act, 1963, the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Representation of the People Act, It is also responsible for procurement of Electric Voting Machine (EVM), Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and reimbursement of Election expenditure of State Assemblies The Department has following two wings under it:- (i) (ii) Official Languages Wing: The Official Languages Wing has been entrusted with the preparation and publication of a standard legal terminology and for translating in Hindi of Central Acts and Ordinances and Subordinate legislation etc. under the Official Languages Act, Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan: The Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan is mainly concerned with bringing out authoritative Hindi versions of reportable judgements of the Supreme Court and the High Courts, with the objective of promoting the progressive use of Hindi in the legal field. It brings out various publications of legal literature in Hindi and also holds exhibitions for giving wide publicity to legal literatures available in Hindi and to promote their sales Election Commission of India: Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority created under Article 324 of Constitution for superintendence, direction, control of elections to Parliament, State legislatures, and to the offices of the President and the Vice-President of India. The Election Commission of India is a multimember body (since 1993) headed by the Chief Election Commissioner, who acts as Chairman of the Commission. The Commission is assisted by Deputy Election Commissioners, Chief Electoral Officers (CEO), District Election Officers (DEO) and Electoral Registration Officers (ERO), appointed by the Election Commission under Representation of People Act, It recognizes/derecognizes political parties and allots symbols to them. It also implements Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for smooth conduct of free and fair elections. It also observes 25 th January every year as National Voters' day to 3

12 encourage young electors to take part in election process. There is an exclusive demand (Demand No. 62) under which budgetary allocation is sought for running the activities of Election Commission of India. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 1.6. The mandate of Department of Justice entails administration of justice, legal aid and advice to weaker sections of the society and undertrials in jails, access to justice for marginalised section of society, appointment/removal of judges of Supreme Court and High Courts, Family Courts, Gram Nayalayas, infrastructural development of judiciary and modernization of court complex, Second Judicial Pay Commission, National Legal Services Authority, E-Courts, Judicial Service Centres, maintenance of National Judicial Data Grid, etc. The Department also launched three new initiatives to improve justice delivery system, namely, Nyaya Mitra- to reduce pendency, Tele Law-providing legal aid through Common Service Centres and Pro-Bono Legal Scheme- a web based platform through which lawyers can volunteer pro-bono services for under-privileged clients. It inter-alia administers the Gram Nayalaya Act, 2008, the Legal Services Act, 1987 and the Family Courts Act, It also observes Legal Services Day on 9 th December every year The following institutions/autonomous bodies/policy initiatives come under the administrative control of the Department: (a) Supreme Court of India:- The Supreme Court of India is the highest constitutional court and also the final court of appeal. The Supreme Court of India has a exclusive Demand (Demand. 63). (b) National Legal Services Authority (NALSA):- The National Legal Services Authority has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, The Chief Justice of India (CJI) is the patron-in-chief and second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court is the Executive Chairman of the Authority. NALSA monitors and evaluates implementation of legal aid programmes, and lays down policies, principles, guidelines and frames effective and economical schemes for the State Legal Services Authorities to implement the legal services programmes throughout the country. The State Legal Services Authorities, District Legal Services Authorities, Taluk Legal Services Committees, etc. primarily discharge their functions by providing the following services regularly:- 4

13 (i) (ii) Free Legal Services: It includes payment of court fee, process fee and all other charges payable or incurred in connection with any legal proceedings, providing service of lawyers in legal proceedings, etc. Lok Adalats : Lok Adalat is one of the Alternative Disputes Resolution Mechanisms. It is a forum where the disputes/cases pending in the court of law or at pre-litigation stage are settled amicably. The Lok Adalat has been given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, Under this Act, an award made by a Lok Adalat is deemed to be a decree of a civil court and is final and binding on all parties and no appeal lies against thereto before any court. (c) Family Courts:- The Family Courts Act, 1984 was enacted with a view to provide for establishment of Family Courts by the State Governments in consultation with the High Courts to promote conciliation and secure speedy settlement of disputes relating to marriage, family affairs and related matters. In accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Act, the State Government has to establish mandatorily Family Court for every area in the State comprising a city or a town whose population exceeds ten lakh. In other areas of the States, the Family Courts may be set up if the State Governments deem it necessary. (d) (e) National Judicial Academy:- The National Judicial Academy is an autonomous body registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and came into existence with effect from 17 th August, The affairs of the Academy are managed by a Governing Council, which is chaired by the Chief Justice of India. The registered office of the Academy is in the Supreme Court Building at New Delhi and another office was established in August, 2000 at Bhopal. The main objectives of the Academy are to impart training to the Judicial Officers of the States/Union Territories and to study court management and administration of justice in States and Union territories. National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms: It was set up in August, 2011, and became fully functional with effect from the financial year The twin goals of the Mission include increasing access by reducing delays and arrears in the system and enhancing accountability at all levels through structural changes and setting performance standards and facilitating enhancement of capacities for achieving such performance standards. The 5

14 schemes/initiatives under the Mission are Action Research and Studies on Judicial Reforms, Access to Justice - Government of India Project, E-Courts Phase-II, Infrastructure development of subordinate judiciary, reducing judicial delays and improving justice delivery system etc. (f) (g) Centrally Sponsored Scheme: The government is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for development of infrastructure facilities for judiciary since The scheme covers construction of court buildings and residential accommodation for judicial officers/judges of District and Subordinate courts. The fund sharing pattern of the Scheme has been revised to 60:40 (Centre: State) and 90:10 (Centre: State) for the eight North-Eastern and three Himalayan States from In November, 2017, the Union Cabinet approved continuation of the Scheme up to 31 st March, 2020 with an outlay of Rs 3320 crore to be implemented in Mission Mode through the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms. Computerization of District and Subordinate Courts E-Courts Mission Mode Project (MMP) Phase - I & II:- This Project is being implemented by the Department under the guidance of e-committee, Supreme Court of India to put in place a justice deliver system that possesses better efficiency, accessibility, affordability, more transparency and set timeliness. Initiated in 2010, the Phase-I of the Project concluded at a total cost of Rs crore. The Phase II of the Project with an outlay of Rs 1670 crore, commenced in August, 2015 and is set to conclude in The scheme includes components such as computerisation of Courts, use of solar energy under e-courts Project, computerisation of the Public Prosecutors Office, videoconferencing facility for jails, enhancement of ICT infrastructure of courts, digitization of old case records, computerisation of Judicial libraries, upgradation of application software, SMS based services, Touch Screen Kiosks. (h) Establishment of Gram Nyayalayas under the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 :- The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 has been enacted by the Parliament to provide for the establishment of the Gram Nyayalayas at the grass root level for the purpose of providing speedy and inexpensive access to justice to the citizens at their door steps. The Central Government meets fifty percent of the recurring 6

15 expenses incurred on the setting up of these courts in the first three years, subject to a ceiling of 3.20 lakh per Gram Nyayalaya per annum. (i) Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC) has been constituted for Subordinate Judiciary to examine the present structure of emoluments and conditions of service of Judicial Officers in the States and UTs. 7

16 CHAPTER II AN OVERVIEW OF THE BUDGET ALLOCATIONS DURING The total proposed budgetary allocations for the Ministry of Law and Justice for the financial year are shown under the following three Demands: - (i) (ii) (iii) Demand No. 61 is the consolidated Budget Estimates pertaining to the Department of Legal Affairs, the Legislative Department and the Department of Justice under the Ministry of Law and Justice; Demand No. 62 pertains to the Election Commission, which is under the administrative control of the Legislative Department; and Demand No. 63 pertains to the Supreme Court of India, which is under the administrative control of the Department of Justice. The expenditure incurred on the Supreme Court of India is charged expenditure In the detailed Demands for Grants for the financial year , the budgetary allocations are depicted only by Revenue/Capital and Charged/Voted The Revenue/Capital, Charged/Voted break-ups of the budgetary allocations under Demand Nos. 61, 62 and 63 for the financial year are given below:-f TABLE No. - I Demand Nos. 61, 62 & 63 at a Glance ( in crores) Demand No. Total Revenue Capital Charged Voted 61 Ministry of Law & Justice (Department of Legal Affairs, Department of Justice and Legislative Department) Election Commission of India Supreme Court Grand total Out of the total allocation of crore for Demand No. 61 of the Ministry of Law and Justice, is allocated in revenue side, which accounts for 59% (approx.). Similarly, out of the total allocation of crore under Demand No.62 for the Election Commission India, crore is allocated for revenue expenditure, which accounts for 93% (approx.). Under Demand No. 63, crore, which is 100% revenue expenditure, is sought for Supreme Court of India. 8

17 DEMAND NO. 61 MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE Summary of proposed Budget Estimates The Committee has been informed by the Ministry that against the projected demand of Rs crore under Demand No. 61 in BE , the Ministry of Finance has provided a total allocation of only Rs crore, which is a shortfall of Rs crore (33.03%). Details of Scheme/Non-scheme, Revenue/Capital wise approved allocation by the Ministry of Finance as well as variation from BE/RE are as under: Scheme TABLE NO. II Demand No. 61 Budget at a Glance BE RE BE Variation over Scheme Scheme Nonscheme Nonscheme Nonscheme BE Revenue % (decrease) Capital % (increase) Total ( in crore) RE % (decrease) 17.5% (increase) Grand total % (increase) 4.68% (increase) 2.5. There is an increase of crore in RE ( ) over BE ( ) and an increase of crore in BE ( ) over BE ( ) for the Ministry of Law and Justice. There is a decrease of around 2.7% in BE over RE in the revenue side and an increase of 17.5% in the capital side. TABLE NO. III Department-wise allocation in BE Sl. No. Department Revenue Capital Total Scheme Non-Scheme 1 Department of Legal Affairs 2 Legislative Department Department of Justice Total ( in crore) 9

18 Sl. No The allocations to different components under the Scheme head are as under. TABLE NO. IV Schemes under Demand No. 61 Sl. No. Name of the Unit/Scheme BE A National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms (Central Sector) 1. E-Courts Phase-II Grant in Aid to NER Action Research and Studies on Judicial Reforms 4. Access to Justice Govt. of India (NEJK) *5. Access to Justice for Marginalized in India UNDP (SAJI) B Total(A) Scheme for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary (Centrally Sponsored Scheme) 1. CSS for Development of Infrastructure of Judiciary-States CSS for Development of Infrastructure of Judiciary-UT with Legislature Assistance to State Governments for establishing and operating Gram Nyayalayas 4. CSS for Development of Infrastructure of Judiciary-UT with Legislature Grant in Aid to NER of Development of Infrastructure of Judiciary Total Grand Total *Phase II of the Project has completed in December, Department-wise percentage change in allocation in BE over BE and variation between projections made and proposed allocation in BE is given below. TABLE NO. - V Department-wise allocation and percentage change in allocation over BE Name of the Department 1. DEPT. OF LEGAL AFFAIRS 2. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT 3. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE BE RE Projections BE REVENUE CAPITA REVENUE CAPITAL made to REVENUE CAPITAL TOTAL L MoF for (Figure in crore ) % change BE to BE Variation between projections and BE (%) (-) (-) * (-) 6 TOTAL ^ GRAND TOTAL *This includes crore for Schemes implemented by the Department of Justice. ^Out of this, crore is for procurement of EVMs, VVPAT, etc. and the balance crore is for ITAT. 10

19 Department of Legal Affairs 2.8. The Committee has been informed that the budgetary allocations for the Department of Legal Affairs are under Non-scheme only. Further, as against the projection of crore, the Department of Legal Affairs was allocated crore only, which is 6.6 per cent (approx.) of the total allocation under Demand No. 61. The Department has submitted that no impact is envisaged of the reduced allocation on the working of the Department in view of the current expenditure trends and also due to the facts that no schemes and programmes are implemented by the Department of Legal Affairs. However, the Department has also informed that subject to requisite approval, it envisages setting up a dedicated scheme to provide grants to academic bodies for research activities/seminars, training programmes and Legal Information Management and Briefing System (LIMBS) The following table is indicative of the increase/decrease from BE and RE ( ) in the allocation in BE ( ) and expenditure of Department of Legal Affairs up to 5 th February, Sl. No. Major Head/Name of the Unit TABLE NO. - VI Department of Legal Affairs BE NON-SCHEME RE Expenditure up to % expenditu re of RE BE ( in crore) Increase/ Decrease (BE-BE) : Department of Legal Affairs : Central Agency Section : Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) : National Tax Tribunal : Law Commission : Appellate Tribunal for Foreign Exchange(ATFE) * : Legal Adviser and Counsels : International Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution(ICADR) : International Law Association (ILA) : Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) (Capital Outlay) : National Tax Tribunal (NTT) (Capital Outlay) **

20 12. D/O Legal Affairs Deduct Recovery of unspent Balance of Grant-in-Aid Sl. No. Total Capital Revenue * As ATFE merged the Appellate Tribunal under the SAFEMA, funds allocated to ATFE could not be fully utilized. ** Construction of office-cum-residential complex for ITAT Lucknow Bench, purchasing of land for ITAT Kolkata Bench, has not materialized so far. However, balance amount of crore presently available is likely to be utilised for the office space in the proposed World Trade Centre, at Nauraoji Nagar, New Delhi It may be seen from the table above that in BE ( ) there is a decrease of crore over BE ( ) and an increase of 3.24 crore over RE ( ). Major portion of the allocation of the Department is for the Legal Advisers & Counsels and for Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), which also includes acquisition and construction of building for Benches of ITAT in different parts of the country. It is also observed that the overall expenditure as on is just percent and on the capital side it is just percent. Legislative Department The Committee has been informed that the budgetary allocations for the Legislative Department are under Non-scheme only. Further, as against the projection of crore, the Legislative Department has been allocated only crore, including 1730 crore as Capital allocation for purchase of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) for the Election Commission of India. The allocation for the Legislative Department is 65% (approx.) of the total allocation under Demand No The following table is indicative of the increase/decrease from BE and RE ( ) in the allocation in BE ( ) and expenditure of Legislative Department up to 5 th February, Name of the Unit/ Scheme BE TABLE NO. VII Legislative Department NON-SCHEME RE Expenditure up to % expenditure of RE BE ( in crore) Increase/ Decrease (BE-BE) 1. Legislative Department Official Language Wing Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan

21 4. Elections (Reimbursement to State/UTs) EVMs Token Amount for Institute for Legislative Drafting and Research (Capital Outlay) TOTAL (Revenue) EVMs for Election Commission (Capital) TOTAL It may be seen from the table above that there is a total increase of crore in BE ( ) over BE ( ), which is mainly on account of increase in allocations under the Head EVMs for Election Commission. Department of Justice The allocation for Department of Justice is crore, which includes crore under Non-Scheme and of the total allocation under Demand No crore under Scheme side, and it is 28 per cent (approx) The following table is indicative of the increase/decrease from BE and RE ( ) in the allocation in BE ( ) and expenditure of Department of Justice up to 5 th February, S.No. Name of the Unit/Scheme BE A TABLE NO. - VIII Department of Justice SCHEME RE Expenditur e up to National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms (Central Sector) % expendit ure of RE BE ( in crore) Increase/ Decrease (BE-BE) 1. E-Courts Phase-II *Grant in Aid to NER Action Research and Studies on Judicial Reforms 4. Access to Justice Govt. of India (NEJK) 5. Access to Justice for Marginalized people in India (SAJI) (Phase II), EAP Total (A)

22 B Scheme for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary (Centrally Sponsored Scheme) 1. CSS for Development of Infrastructure of Judiciary-States 2. CSS for Development of Infrastructure of Judiciary-UT with Legislature 3. CSS for Development of Infrastructure of Judiciary-UT with Legislature 4. Grant in Aid to NER of Development of Infrastructure of Judiciary 5. Assistance to State Governments for establishing and operating Gram Nyayalayas Total (B) Total (A) + (B) *Allocated under ecourt Project Phase II for computerisation of courts in North Eastern States. TABLE NO. - IX ( in crore) S. No. Name of the Unit/Scheme BE NON-SCHEME RE Expenditure up to % expenditure of RE BE Increase/ Decrease (BE-BE) 1. Department of Justice Secretariat expenditure of National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms 3. National Judicial Academy 4. Special Courts (Family Courts) 5. National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) 6. NALSA (Grants-in- Aid) 7. Supreme Court Legal Service Committee (SCLSCE) Total (Non-Scheme) As against the projection of crore, the Department of Justice was allocated of in BE ( ). It may be seen from the table above that there is a total increase crore in BE ( ) over BE ( ) for Schemes, mainly on account of

23 increased allocation in BE ( ) for E-Courts Phase-II, Action Research and Studies on Judicial Reforms, Grant in aid to NER and slight increase in allocation for CSS for infrastructure of judiciary. However, the Department has informed that there is a shortfall of Rs crore, Rs crore and Rs 3.5 crore vis-à-vis the projections made for three major Schemes, viz. CSS for infrastructure of judiciary, E-Courts Phase-II and Access to Justice GoI (NEJ&K). Also, NALSA too has not received funds as per the projection made by it. The projection was for Rs 140 crore, whereas the allocation is only Rs 80 crore. DEMAND NO. 62 ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA Election Commission India is a constitutional authority created under Article 324 of Constitution. The entire expenditure incurred by the Election Commission of India is Voted Budgetary allocation of Rs crore has been proposed for the financial year , of which Rs crore is the revenue expenditure and Rs crore is the capital expenditure for construction of IIIDEM campus. The revenue expenditure accounts for 93 per cent (approx.) of the total proposed allocation.the variation between BE over BE and that between BE and projections made to MoF are reflected in the table below. BE ( ) RE ( ) Projections to MoF for BE TABLE NO. - X Budget at a Glance BE ( ) Variation of BE over ( in crore) BE RE Projection made to MoF (+) (+) (-) R: C: The Commission has informed that there is an increase of 83.53% in BE ( ) over BE ( ), which is mainly due to increase in provision for Information Technology (628.17%), Voters Awareness (80.58%) and Training (87.86%). Variation in BE over RE is also mainly due to increase in provision in the same heads. However, provision in Capital Section has been decreased in BE by 41.52% and 73.12% in comparison to BE and RE , respectively. The Commission has submitted 15

24 that the funds allocated under the capital section are insufficient and proposal for additional funds may be moved to the Ministry of Finance at appropriate time so that the construction work of the IIIDEM campus and purchase of land from DDA for construction of additional office for Election Commission do not get affected for want of funds. DEMAND NO. 63 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA The Supreme Court of India is the highest constitutional court and also the final court of appeal. The expenditure incurred on the Supreme Court of India is charged on the Consolidated Fund of India. Accordingly, entire Demand No. 63 is a charged expenditure Budgetary allocation of Rs crore has been proposed for the financial year The entire demand consists of Revenue expenditure only. The variation between BE over BE and that between BE and projections made to MoF are reflected in the table below. BE ( ) RE ( ) Projections to MoF for BE TABLE NO. - XI Budget at a Glance BE ( ) Variation of BE over ( in crore) BE RE Projection made to MoF (R) (+) 4.06 (-) There is an increase of 8 crore in RE ( ) over BE ( ). However, there is a decrease of Rs 3.94 crore in BE over RE ( ). OBSERVATIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS The Committee observes that in BE ( ), allocation to the Ministry was enhanced by crore over BE ( ). Similarly, allocations of Election Commission of India and Supreme Court of India were enhanced by crore and 4.06 crore respectively. However, the allocation in BE ( ) is substantially low as compared to projection by the Departments under the Ministry and the Election Commission of India. As per the data provided, the Ministry had projected a requirement of crore for BE to the Ministry of Finance, against which an allocation of only crore has been approved, which is just 67% of the 16

25 allocation sought from the Ministry of Finance. Similarly, the Election Commission of India had projected a requirement of Rs crore, against which an allocation of only crore has been approved, which is just 65% of the allocation sought from the Ministry of Finance. This indicates that either the projections of the Ministry/Commission were overestimated or they have received inadequate funds The Ministry of Law and Justice and organisations under its administrative control play a very important role in bringing reforms in the Indian Legal System to achieve expansion, inclusion and excellence in legal education, the legal profession and legal aid services. They need sufficient funds to cater to their requirements; to execute ongoing schemes/programmes and to initiate new schemes/programmes. Thus, the Committee strongly recommends that the Ministry and its organizations are allocated sufficient funds in the FY to carry out its mandate and additional requirement of funds may be provided at the RE stage. The Committee makes similar recommendation for the Election Commission of India so that the activities of the Commission are not hampered due to paucity of funds The Committee after analyzing the trend of expenditure in the FY in the Ministry observes that as on 21 st February, 2018, the Ministry has been able to spend about 92 percent of the funds under schemes. However, the spending under the nonscheme heads is only 71.16, 68.7 and 57.5 percent, respectively, for the Department of Legal Affairs, Legislative Department and Department of Justice as on 5 th February, As per the instructions of the Ministry of Finance, expenditure in the last quarter is to be restricted to 33% ceiling and last month (March) expenditure to 15% ceiling. Thus, performance of the Ministry in terms of utilization of funds under schemes leaves much to be desired. A focused planning and close monitoring of utilization of funds is required on the part of the Ministry. The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Ministry should identify the bottlenecks responsible for not being able to maintain the pace of utilization required as per the instructions of the Ministry of Finance and take remedial measures so as to improve its performance in utilization of scheme funds in the future. 17

26 CHAPTER - III DEMAND NO. 61: LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT 3.1. The major portion of the Legislative Department s Budget is meant for election expenses and purchase of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). They are to reimburse the expenditure incurred on the conduct of Elections to the State Governments/UTs. The Department had proposed the requirement of crore against which the Ministry of Finance has allocated crore in BE ( ), which is a shortfall of crore (54 per cent approx.) against their projected demand. Against BE ( ) of 1000 crore, an amount of 1730 crore has been allocated in BE ( ), an increase of 730 crore over BE ( ), which is 73 percent approx. The increase is due to procurement of EVMs, VVPATs etc., by Election Commission keeping in view the Lok Sabha Election in the year Official Languages Wing 3.2. Official Languages Wing of the Legislative Department is responsible for preparing and publishing standard legal glossary and also for translating into Hindi, all the Bills to be introduced in Parliament, all Central Acts, Ordinances, subordinate legislations, etc., as required under the Official Languages Act, This Wing is also responsible for arranging translation of the Constitution, Central Acts, Ordinances, etc., into the Official Languages as specified in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution as required under the Authoritative Texts (Central Laws) Act, As per the Eight Schedule of the Constitution, 22 languages(assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati,Hindi,Kannada,Kashmiri,Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu) are recognized as scheduled language. However, the Secretary, Legislative Department during the meeting of the Committee on the Demands for Grants ( ) submitted that as against the total strength of 151 in Official Language Wing, they have only 15 language officers in their Regional Language wing. An amount of crore has been allocated to the Official Language Wing in BE ( ) which is a decrease of 0.4 crore over the allocations of crore in BE ( ). 18

27 Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan (VSP) Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan brings out various publications of legal literature, including law books and law journals, in Hindi containing Hindi translations of selected judgments of the Supreme Court and High Courts on cases pertaining to constitutional, civil and criminal laws. An amount of 5.60 crore has been allocated to the Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan in BE ( ) which is an increase of 0.16 crore over the allocations of 5.44 crore in RE ( ) There are twenty two languages specified under VIII Schedule of the Constitution which includes six classical languages i.e. Tamil, Sanskrit, Malayalam, Kannad, Telugu and Odia. Article 343 stipulates that the official language of the Union shall be in Hindi in Devanagri Script and English. The Official Language Act, 1963 and the Official Language Rules, 1970, promotes use of Hindi progressively in official work in addition to English. Article 345 of the Constitution mentions that official language of a State may be one or more languages or Hindi or English. Article 120 of the Constitution mentions that the business in Parliament shall be transacted in Hindi or in English. Similarly Article 210 mentions that the business in the legislature of a State shall be transacted in the official language of the State or in Hindi or in English. Article 351 cast duty upon the Union Government to promote Hindi having special reference to composite culture of India and for its vocabulary reliance is placed primarily on Sanskrit and secondarily on other languages. Article 350 gives a constitutional right to every citizen of the country to send petition to any authority of the Union or the State in any languages used in the Union or in the State as the case may be Out of twenty two languages specified VIII Schedule of Constitution. The Legislative Department brings out authoritative texts of Constitution in sixteen languages. Those are Assamees, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannad, Telugu, Tamil, Kashmiri, Konkari, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Odia, Urdu, Sindhi, Sanskrit and Nepali. The Legislative Department is responsible for translation of Central Legislation both supreme and subordinate in languages mentioned in VIII Schedule of the Constitution. The Constitution of India also needs to be made available in those languages. The Legislative Department in their submission informed the Committee that the updated diglot edition of Constitution is to be published, while Constitution in other languages have not yet been updated in other languages. The Committee, 19

28 therefore, exhorts the Department to expedite authoritative translation of Constitution and other Central Legislation complied on Bharat Sanhita (India Code) for popularisation of law amongst people speaking those languages The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirteenth Amendment) Bill, 2010 changed the name of Orissa to Odisha and the Oriya language to Odia. However, in the Annual Report, of the Ministry old nomenclature is still used. The Department is accordingly, recommended to update and use the new nomenclature in future reports The Committee also recommends the Department to use simple day to day vocabulary in Hindi, wherever possible, and simply the legal terminology for the understanding of the common people of the country. The Department may also explore the possibility of creating a separate webpage where all the Acts/Ordinances/Rules translated by it in regional languages are available. The Committee further recommends the Department to recruit more language officers or engage experts or consultants so that legal texts and documents could be simplified and translated in regional languages for the understanding of the common people. 20

29 CHAPTER - IV DEMAND NO. 62: ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA 4.0. The entire expenditure of the Election Commission of India (ECI) is voted. The proposed allocation in BE ( ) is crore, against the projected requirement of crore, which is a shortfall of crore (35 per cent approx.). The Major reduction has been done under the Information Technology, i.e., crores, as against the projection of crore, Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) i.e., crores, as against 71 crore. The BE ( ) exceeds the RE ( ) by crore, which is an increase of 30 per cent (approx) The Commission in its written replies to the questionnaire of the Committee on the Demands for Grants ( ) submitted that the General Election to the Legislative Assemblies of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat were held in General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura would be held in Financial Year Moreover, some bills related to Financial Year were cleared in Financial Year The crore have been allocated in BE ( ) as the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) campus in likely to be operational in the next financial year and Training Division would run in its optimal capacity The Committee observes that as against the projection of crore, only crore have been allocated in BE ( ), which is a short fall of crore (35 percent approx), with major reductions being under the head Information Technology and voters awareness. The Committee is of the view that with the increased penetration of internet in the country and focus of the Government on programmes like Digital India to reach out to common people, information technology has become crucial medium to reach large number of voters in a very short time. However, the Committee notes that the allocation under the head Information technology and voters awareness is less than the projected demand, which may affect the activities of the Commission in the coming General Elections to the Lok Sabha in The Committee, accordingly, recommends that, if needed, allocations for it should be enhanced suitably at RE stage so that activities of the ECI are not adversely affected due to want of funds. Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) 21