<h1>Centre abandons national litigation policy, issues binding directives to ministries and SOEs to cut and streamline government litigation</h1> The central government dropped plans for a formal national litigation policy, concluding a policy limited to government entities would not be universally applicable and would require Cabinet approval, and instead issued binding directives to ministries, departments and state-owned enterprises to reduce litigation. The Department of Legal Affairs' 'Directive for the efficient and effective management of litigation' (reviewed annually) mandates measures to simplify procedures, prevent unnecessary appeals, correct inconsistent notifications/orders, and strengthen implementation to avoid disputes. The move responds to government being party to roughly 700,000 pending cases, with about 190,000 involving the finance ministry.