JUDGMENT

Sanjeev Narula, J. - These batch of appeals, stem from orders passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal as also the Trial Court qua a property dispute involving the Cement Corporation of India Limited, a public service undertaking. While deciding the matters on merits, this Court was deeply anguished by the approach adopted by the Indian Railways and Cement Corporation in their defence. Specifically, the fact that they resorted to unfounded arguments and false assertions raised serious concern, sufficient to agitate judicial conscience. This led to a judgment on 24th June, 2021, by the learned Single Judge, which raises a cautionary flag on the disconcerting practice of frivolous claims or defences being advanced by the Government in legal proceedings - a trend that has the potential to adversely impact the very foundation of our legal system. In light of these concerns, the learned Single Judge reclassified these petitions as public interest litigation (PILs) and referred them to this bench for a focused examination of issues concerning Government's accountability and the lack of a `National Litigation Policy'.

2. In the aforementioned judgment, the Court meticulously recorded