Centre spent Rs 683 crore on litigation in 12 years, 7.14 lakh cases remain pending

New Delhi: The Union government has spent Rs 683.72 crore in litigation between 2014-15 and 2025-26 till December even as 7.14 lakh cases involving various ministries and departments are pending in various courts with the Ministry of Finance topping the list with 1.94 lakh cases.

The data is derived from the reports of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, which examined the Demands for Grants (2024-25 and 2025-26) of the Department of Legal Affairs in the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The highest amount spent on litigation was Rs 87.65 crore in 2024-25 while the ongoing fiscal 2025-26 showed an expense of Rs 74.05 crore till 31 December, 2025.

The Parliamentary committee reports showed that litigation expenses have been rising year after year though some years witnessed a decline.

In 2014-15, the government spent Rs 26.64 crore for litigation while it rose to Rs 37.43 crore, Rs 48.12 crore and Rs 65.83 crore in the next three fiscals only to see a dip to R 51.85 crore in 2018-19.

It further rose to Rs 61.08 crore in 2019-20 and saw decline in 2020-21 and 2021-22, when Covid-19 struck, to Rs 58.43 crore and Rs 48.56 crore respectively.

In 2022-23, it rose to Rs 57.45 crore while it saw an increase to Rs 66.57 crore in 2023-24.

While the last 12 fiscals saw a cumulative expense of Rs 683.72 crore, the reports showed that the last ten fiscals -- 2016-17 to 2025-26 -- saw the government spending Rs 619.65 crore as legal expenses.

Last April, the Ministry of Law and Justice had issued the ‘Directive for the efficient and effective management of litigation by the Government of India’ to prevent "unwanted" litigation, minimise "unwarranted" appeals and address "inconsistencies" in notifications and orders to reduce caseload.

Incidentally, the pending cases have come down to 7.14 lakh cases as on December 31 last year compared to 7.18 lakh on 31 December, 2024.

Of the 7.14 lakh cases pending in Supreme Court, High Courts, District and Sessions Courts and Tribunals, the Ministry of Finance topped the list with 1.94 lakh cases, a marginal increase of around 1,000, followed by Indian Railways with 1.11 lakh pending cases, down from 1.15 lakh cases. The Ministry of Defence came third with 94,104 pending cases, down from 96,526 cases.