THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government has strictly directed senior bureaucrats to approach the inter-departmental dispute resolution committee that it constituted before taking contentions between various departments to legal forums. If the departments violate the directive, then the entire cost of litigation, including interest, will be recovered from the officer who authorised filing such cases.
The government had earlier constituted a high-power committee for settling inter-departmental disputes. The committee had submitted its findings and suggestions to the council of ministers for implementation. A fresh warning was issued to bureaucrats after the government saw that certain heads of departments, public sector units, corporations and local bodies were spending huge amounts of money for litigation without the approval of the dispute resolution committee.
The government noticed that hefty amount was being spent on court fee and other legal procedures and it was bleeding the state exchequer. It also noticed that projects that required cooperation between various departments and bodies were getting delayed due to the legal wrangle. As per the new government directive, disputes between departments should be amicably settled by the secretaries of the departments concerned. If a settlement cannot be reached at the secretary-level, the matter should be referred to the dispute resolution committee.
The committee having six-members is being headed by the chief secretary. In case the committee fails to resolve the deadlock, then it can give clearance for the parties concerned to move the court. Any legal action made without the consent of the committee will be considered as illegal and the expense in that regard will be treated as wasteful, the order said.