Assam: State government spends nearly Rs 100 crore for lawyer fees in courts

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: In the last four years, the Assam government has spent around Rs 100 crore as lawyers' fees for cases involving the state government, from the Supreme Court to district lower courts.

Official sources said that, up to March 2025, there are 1,647 cases in the SC with the Assam government as a party and 56,869 cases in the Gauhati High Court. To appear on behalf of the state government in the courts, the state government has paid lawyers Rs 6.84 crore in the Supreme Court, Rs 38.39 crore in High Courts and Rs 50.45 crore in lower courts in the financial years 2020-21 to 2024-25. Due to cases pending for longer periods in the courts, the state government has to bear additional costs. Some of the cases are appointment-related, some are promotion-related, while others are criminal cases involving corruption.

Sources also said that the state government has paid the highest amount as fees - Rs 2.29 crore in the SC, Rs 14.31 crore in the High Court and Rs 13.07 crore in lower courts - in 2024-25.

To ease the burden of pending cases, the state government has initiated several steps, like transferring cases of minors' abuse to specially set-up POCSO Courts in different districts, holding Lok Adalats at frequent intervals, etc.

Sources also said that the state government has forwarded a proposal to the Centre for setting up trade and commerce courts to handle cases related to trade and commerce. Also a proposal for the establishment of a court of special judge. There is another proposal to set up a full-fledged NIA court.

Sources further said that the state government has already withdrawn 81,000 cases in lower courts to reduce the backlog of pending cases and allow courts to focus on serious offences. The initiative specifically targets cases that carry a potential sentence of less than three years. These include a wide range of minor offences.

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