YEAR END REVIEW 2022: DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AFFAIRS

Ministry of Law and Justice

Posted On: 26 DEC 2022 12:48PM by PIB Delhi

All India Conference of Law Ministers and Law Secretaries held with the objective of providing a common forum for the policy makers of the nation to discuss the plethora of issues that concern the Indian Legal System The Chairperson, Members, Full-time and Part-time, of the 22nd Law Commission appointed by the Government on 7 November, 2022 New features added in LIMBS Portal during the year Conference on ‘Arbitrating Indo-UK Commercial Disputes” at London, United Kingdom held on 5 July , 2022

1. ADVICES TENDERED BY THE LEGAL ADVISERS

The primary function of the Department of Legal Affairs is to tender advice in the capacity of a legal adviser to the referring Ministry/Department of the Government of India. This year the Department received 5417 references from various Ministries/ Departments for legal advice. The types of references for legal advice include opinion for filing of SLP/review/ appeals before the Hon’ble Supreme Court, High Courts and other judicial/quasi-judicial forums, vetting of counter affidavits, conveyancing matters, competency for enacting state bills and private member bills, cabinet notes containing legislative and non-legislative proposals and opinion on other miscellaneous references involving legal complexities.

2. LITIGATION MATTERS HANDLED

1. Central Agency Section (CAS) – The Central Agency Section conducts litigation before the Supreme Court of India on behalf of all Ministries/Departments of the Central Government, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Union Territories, the office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (‘CAG’) and all field offices under the CAG.

2. The Litigation (High Court) Section – The Litigation (High Court) section handles the Litigations before the High Court of Delhi on behalf of all the Ministries/Departments of Govt. of India except the Income Tax Department. The types of litigation work dealt on behalf of the Union of India include Civil and Criminal Writ Petitions under Article 226 & 227 of the Constitution of India, Civil Misc. Applications, Division Bench Appeals, Company Applications, Execution Applications and Criminal Misc. etc. The cases dealt with and contested in Courts other than Delhi High Court are generally related to: – National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court, NCLT, NCLAT, Un-lawful activities (Prevention Tribunal), Debt Recovery Tribunal, Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal, Immigration Appellate Committee, Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, Central Information Commission, District Consumer Form, NGT etc. This year a total of 7903 cases were received till 30.11.2022.

3. Litigation CAT (PB) Delhi Cell – The Litigation CAT (PB) Delhi Cell looks after the Cases/Litigation related to various Ministries/Department of the Government of India and nominates counsels from the approved panel to defend the interest of the UoI before the CAT (PB), Delhi. This year a total of 92936 cases were filed, out of which 75449 cases were disposed of and 17436 cases are pending for adjudication.

4. The Litigation (Lower Court) Section – The Litigation (Lower Court) Section handles the litigations before various District Courts, Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission/Tribunals in Delhi on behalf of all Ministries/Departments of Government of India. This year a total of 784 cases were received out of which 15 cases were disposed and 766 cases are pending for adjudication. Further, 284 panel advocates have been engaged for a period of 3 years during the year.

3. INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATIONS HANDLED

India has signed Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) or Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPAs) with several countries. These agreements provide a Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism for settling disputes between investors and the country of investment. In 2015, with the approval of the Cabinet, a decision was taken to terminate the BIPAs/BITs. However, by virtue of the sun set clause the investors can raise disputes for another period of 10 years under ISDS mechanism. As on date there are 9 (nine) arbitration cases being handled by the Department of Legal Affairs involving various investors namely Antrix-Devas, Antrix-Devas Commercial / BIT arbitration, Khaitan-Loop Telecom KOWEPO, GPIX, Essar, (Aircell) Maxis Communication Berhad (MAD), Jaldhi Overseas.

4. MEDIATION BILL, 2021

With the objective of promoting, encouraging and facilitating mediation, especially institutional mediation for resolution of civil and commercial disputes, enforcing mediation settlement agreements, providing for a body for registration of mediators, encouraging community mediation and making online mediation as an acceptable and cost effective process and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto, a comprehensive standalone law on Mediation has been introduced during the winter session of the Parliament on 20.12.2021.

The Bill was referred for examination and report, to the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on 20.12.2021. The Committee has submitted its report on 13.07.2022 and pursuant to the examination of the Report, further steps are being taken to introduce official  amendments and enable the passing of the Mediation Bill, 2021

5. ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION ACT, 1996 AND ARBITRATION COUNCIL OF INDIA

The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2019 provides for establishment of the Arbitration Council of India (Council) which will frame, review and update norms to ensure satisfactory levels of arbitration and will also frame policies governing the grading of arbitral institutions. The Council will lay down norms to bring uniformity of standards among the arbitral institutions in the country. The establishment of the Council is aimed to minimize the court intervention in arbitration matters by providing that parties may approach the Supreme Court and High Courts designated and Council graded arbitral institutions for the purpose of appointment of arbitrators under section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

With a view to expedite the establishment of the Council, the following rules have been notified:-

1. The Arbitration Council of India (Terms and Conditions and the Salary and Allowances payable to Chairperson and Members) Rules, 2022;
2. The Arbitration Council of India (Qualifications, Appointment and other Terms and Conditions of the Service of Chief Executive Officer) Rules, 2022;
3. The Arbitration Council of India (Travelling and other Allowances Payable to Part-time Members) Rules, 2022;
4. The Arbitration Council of India (Number of officers and other Employees, their Qualifications, Appointment and other Terms and Conditions) Rules, 2022.

Presently, other works for the establishment of Arbitration Council of India are underway.

6. COMMERCIAL COURTS ACT, 2015

The Commercial Courts Act, 2015 provides for the constitution of Commercial Courts, Commercial Appellate Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division in the High Courts for adjudicating commercial disputes of specified value and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The Act facilitated in improving India’s ranking in World Bank’s Doing Business Report.

The Courts of Additional District Judge at Jammu and Srinagar are designated as Commercial Courts for Jammu and Srinagar respectively. The Principal District Courts in remaining districts of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir have been designated as Commercial Courts.  There are 758 Commercial Courts constituted below District Judge level, 494 Commercial Courts at the District Judge level, 379 Commercial Appellate Division Courts at District Judge Level. 25 Commercial Divisions and 38 Commercial Appellate Division constituted in the High Courts.  The details are as follows:

S. No.	HIGH COURTS	Commercial Courts (Below District Judge Level)	Commercial Courts (At District Judge Level)	Commercial Appellate Court (District Judge Level)	Commercial Division	Commercial Appellate Division
	High Court of Jharkhand	24	24	24	0	1
	High Court of Himachal Pradesh	Nil	Nil	Nil	2	1
	High Court of Sikkim	06	06	06	N.A.	01
	High Court of Delhi (as on 30.09.2022)	NA	35	NA	9	7
	Gauhati High Court (as on 30.09.2022)	34	4	34	–	–
	High Court of Madras (as on 30.09.2022)	110	34	29	3	3
	High Court of Meghalaya	–	1	–	–	1
	High Court of Uttarakhand (as on 30.09.2022)	–	2	–	Division Bench at High Court	Division Bench at High Court
	Patna High Court	117	37	37	2	1
	High Court of Manipur	Nil	Nil	Nil	—	1
	High Court of Kerala (as on 31.11.2022)	56	0	14	0	1
	High Court of Calcutta	N.A.	4	N.A.	High Court, Calcutta	High Court, Calcutta
	High Court of Gujarat (as on 31.11.2022)	118	76	32	1	1
	Punjab and Haryana High Court	181	98	103	1	2
	High Court of Karnataka (as on 30.09.2022)	–	54	–	–	3
	Bombay High Court (as on 30.09.2022)	101	90	88	4	4
	High Court of Tripura	–	9	1	–	1
	High Court of Chhattisgarh (as on 30.09.2022)	–	1	–	–	1
	High Court of Madhya Pradesh (as on 01.12.2022)	7	5	1	Not Established	3
	High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh	Vide Notification LD (A) 2005/22-II datd:- 02.07.2019 which has been issued by the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs (Judicial Administration Section) Civil Secretariat, Srinagar/ Jammu the courts of Additional District Judge (Bank Cases) at Jammu and Srinagar are designated as commercial courts respectively for Srinagar and Jammu districts. The Principal District Courts in remaining districts of the UT have been designated as commercial courts. Moreover the commercial cases including commercial value (> Rs. 500 crores) filed in the High Court of J&K and Ladakh are listed in the benches constituted as per the roaster of that week.
	High Court of Andhra Pradesh	—	2	—	1	1
	High Court of Orissa (as on 30.09.2022)	4	—	10	NA	1
	High Court of Rajasthan (as on 31.11.2022)	—	12	—	—	2

7. NEW DELHI INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION CENTRE (NDIAC)

The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Act, 2019, provides for the establishment of an institution of national importance, namely the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre for creating an independent and autonomous body for facilitating institutional arbitration. The NDIAC shall, inter alia, provide facilities and administrative assistance for conciliation, mediation and arbitral proceedings, maintain panel of arbitrators, both at national and International level; promote research and study, provide teaching and training and organize conferences and seminars in arbitration, conciliation, mediation and other alternative dispute resolution matters. The Centre has been established vide notification dated 13^th June, 2022.  The Chairperson and the Members of the Centre have been appointed and are likely to assume charge soon.

The following Rules as required under the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Act, 2019 have also been notified by the Central Government :-

1. New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Number of Posts and Recruitment of Registrar, Counsel and other officers and employees) Rules, 2022;
2. New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Terms and Conditions and the Salary and allowances payable to Chairperson and Full-time Members) Rules, 2022;
3. New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Form of Annual Statement of Accounts) Rules, 2022;
4. New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Travelling and other Allowances Payable to Part-time Members) Rules, 2022.

The Chamber of Arbitration under the Centre, to empanel experienced arbitrators of repute, at the national and international level, is being established. The Centre shall be a game-changer in investor’s perception of doing business in India, by establishing itself as a professionally managed arbitration center.

VII.       Legal Education
 

A Joint Conference of Chief Minister and Chief Justices of High Court was held on 30.04.2022 on legal education.  In this conference, the Hon’ble PM mainly gave emphasis on followings:

1. Reduce the delay in Justice System.
2. Use of technology in Judiciary.
3. Use of Technology tools such as blockchains, robotics, artificial intelligence, electronic discovery, cyber-security and bio-ethics in Law University.
4. Simplification of laws.
5. Use of local languages.
6. Repeal of obsolete and archaic laws.
7. Release of under-trials who are in jail for petty offences.
8. Mediation for resolution of disputes.

8. NOTARY ONLINE APPLICATION PORTAL (NOAP)

On 27.05.2022, the Department of Legal Affairs Department launched an exclusive web portal namely, Notary Online Application Portal (NOAP). The eligible can submit online application for appointment as Notary Public through this user friendly platform.

The Notary Cell conducted interviews for UT of Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. Total number of candidates declared successful for appointment as notaries in U.T. of Pudduchery and on the basis of online interviews in the States of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are 128, 367 & 564 respectively.

9. AMENDMENTS IN NOTARY RULES, 1956

Vide GSR No 438(E) dated 9^th June, 2022 vacancies for central public notaries for various States/Union Territories have been enhanced. Vide GSR No. 597(E) dated 22^nd July, 2022, Rule 8B of the Notaries Rules, 1956 have been further amended empowering the Central Government to renew the certificate of practices which are received within one year after expiry of validity period.

10. INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL (ITAT)

            During the year 2022, the Tribunal disposed off a total of 36368 appeals and 39107 are pending for adjudication. The website of ITAT has been updated and made fully functional. JudiSIS App, ITAT e-Filing Portal, e-Library Portal have been launched. The concept of paperless courts has been introduced with the online publication of daily orders and online communication of hearing notices. The ITAT API has also been linked with the LIMBS portal. Digital Display Boards have been installed in the tribunal premises akin to the High Courts.  Exercise, to fill up the vacancies of President, Vice-President and Members (Accountant/Judicial) are underway.

11. PUBLIC ADDRESSES OF HON’BLE MINISTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE, SHRI KIREN RIJIJU

1. 12th annual convocation organised by Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University on 02.12.2022 – The Hon’ble Minister of Law and Justice delivered a speech on the occasion of the 12th Annual Convocation organised by Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University on 02.12.2022. He highlighted Dr.Ambedkar’s far sighted vision was the reason behind the principles of the Constitution standing the test of time and how the Government has been undertaking various initiatives such as the reviewing of obsolete laws, incorporating local language in the legal system for ease of justice, new laws on arbitration and mediation, and improving the efficiency of commercial courts.

1. Constitution Day Celebrations organised on 25.11.2022 – The Hon’ble Minister of Law and Justice, delivered a speech on the occasion of the Constitution Day Celebrations organised on 25.11.2022. He emphasised on the commitment of the Government to fulfil the mandate of revitalising and strengthening the Constitutional principles. He highlighted as to how the Government has been reviewing the obsolete laws, the need to draft laws in a simple and clear language, making amendments to strengthen the arbitration regime, adjudication of commercial disputes etc. He deliberated upon the various reforms undertaken by the Government to ensure Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living.

Glad to attend the Constitution Day Celebration at the Supreme Court Lawns, New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/Bq5MiZSb7T

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) November 25, 2022

Related Story: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1879181

3. Conference on ‘Arbitrating Indo-UK Commercial Disputes” at London, United Kingdom held on July 05, 2022 – The Hon’ble Minister of Law and Justice, on the invitation of the Indian Council of Arbitration and duly supported by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, spoke at the Conference on ‘Arbitrating Indo-UK Commercial Disputes’ at London, United Kingdom on 5 July, 2022. He noted that trade, industry, commerce and investments thrive only when the State policy provide a conducive business environment to the stakeholders along with a robust dispute resolution mechanism and that the Government has been working on both the fronts, amending laws to bolster Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living as well as the arbitration regime. He reiterated the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s able leadership and guidance in taking various steps and measures towards revitalizing and strengthening the contract enforcement and commercial dispute resolution regime, such as the enactment of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, establishment of the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre, introduction of the Mediation Bill, 2021 and removal of obsolete laws to facilitate ease of doing business and ease of living.

12. PARTICIPATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AFFAIRS IN INTERNATIONAL EVENTS/MEETINGS

1. The 20th SCO Prosecutor Generals meeting was held on 23rd September, 2022 through video conferencing mode which was represented by Indian delegation led by Ld. Solicitor General of India Shri Tushar Mehta and Dr. Anju Rathi Rana, Additional Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs. It was decided to strengthen cooperation among all member states on returning stolen assets from the states.

1. Deliberations over Exposition of Lord Buddha Relics at Gandantegchenlin Monastery in Mongolia in June 2022,
2. Meetings with the UK over ‘Arbitrating Indo-UK Commercial Disputes’ in July 2022.
3. The third in-person meeting of the India-United Kingdon Joint Consultative Committee and Legal Services Committee was held at New Delhi on 18^th Aug. 2022 at New Delhi with the delegation of UK led by Dr. Jo Farrar, Second Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Government of UK.  She was accompanied by Senior Officers of Ministry of Justice and British High Commission at New Delhi.
4. Deliberations with Switzerland over the Fourth Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review of India happened in November, 2022.
5. Review of the FTA/CECA signed between India and Korea during 3-4 November 2022 at Seoul, South Korea.
6. Evidentiary Hearing at London during 14-25 at London in the Matter of GPIX V Union of India and assisted counsels.
7. India-EU FTA negotiations at Vanijya Bhawan during 5-8 December 2022.

1. India-Canada FTA negotiations (virtually) during 28-30 November 2022.
2. India-Russia BIT negotiations.
3. India -Australia FRA Negotiations.
4. India-UK FTA negotiations.
5. India-UAE BIT negotiations
6. India-Indonesia BIT Negotiations
7. India-Philippines BIT Negotiations

16)  The 9th Justice Ministers meeting of SCO Member States was held on 9^th December, 2022 through video conferencing mode which was  represented by Indian delegation led by HMLJ Shri Kiren Rijiju, HMOS S.P Baghel, Dr. Niten Chandra, Law Secretary, Shri Rajveer Singh Verma, Additional Secretary, Shri Mahendra Khandelwal, Sr. Government Advocate, Dr. S.K. Jain, Director-cum-Chief Forensic Scientist, Directorate of Forensic Science Services and Prof (Dr.) S.O. Junare, Campus Director, National Forensic Sciences University, Delhi Campus.

13. ALL INDIA CONFERENCE OF LAW MINISTERS AND LAW SECRETARIES

Realizing the need to develop a robust and citizen-friendly justice delivery system and imagining India’s vision for the year 2047 as part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the All India Conference of Law Ministers and Law Secretaries was held on the 15th and 16th of October, 2022 at Tent City, Ekta Nagar, Gujarat. The two day Conference was hosted by the Ministry of Law & Justice with the objective of providing a common forum for the policy makers of the nation to discuss the plethora of issues that concerns the Indian Legal System. It was envisioned on the lines of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Sabka Prayas’ (everyone’s efforts) to build a new India & to inculcate a sense of coordination and cooperation in every organ of our democracy.

The Centre, the States and the Union Territories discussed and deliberated on making our legal system more accessible, affordable and citizen friendly. A variety of topics relating to the Indian legal system were also discussed, and it gave an opportunity for the States and Union Territories to exchange their best practices that can serve to upgrade the overall legal system of the country in the interests of its citizens, particularly the weaker sections of the society, thereby empowering them to create an inclusive and vibrant new India.

India is proud to have such a world class venue at Ekta Nagar. I’m very grateful to Gujarat Govt for proving full support for All India Conference of Law Ministers & Law Secretaries. I thank all the Law Ministers and Law Secretaries for their participation in the Conference. pic.twitter.com/2IsdGSWQNZ

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) October 16, 2022

14. PROGRESSIVE USE OF HINDI IN OFFICIAL WORK

With a view to accelerate the use of Official Language and to increase the awareness among the employees as regards to the official language policy and the various incentive schemes for using Hindi in official work a Hindi Pakhwada was organized in the Department from 14.09.2022 to 29.09.2022 and the Hindi Diwas was celebrated in the Department on 14.09.2022. This was done with the objective of giving wider publicity to the various schemes and generating maximum output in terms of work done in Hindi.

This year, during the Hindi Pakhwada, 5 competitions namely, Hindi Essay Writing, Hindi Typing, Translation, Hindi Noting and Drafting and Hindi Dictation were organized for officials of the Department. The successful participants were awarded certificates of merit along with cash prizes. ‘Hindi Diwas’ was also celebrated in the Branch secretariats of the Department at Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai and the offices of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.

15. LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA

The Chairperson, Members, Full-time and Part-time, of the 22^nd Law Commission were appointed by the Government on 7 November, 2022. Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Retired Chief Justice, Karnataka High Court was appointed as the Chairperson. Other full time members of the Commission are Hon’ble Mr. Justice K.T. Sankaran, Retired Judge of the Kerala High Court, (Prof.) Dr. Anand Paliwal and (Prof.) Dr. D.P. Verma and the Part time members are Shri M. Karunanithi, Advocate and (Prof.) Dr. Raka Arya. The Commission also comprises of two ex-officio Members namely, Law Secretary and the Legislative Secretary.

Memorable All India Conference of Law Ministers & Law Secretaries at the historic Ekta Nagar in Gujarat near the magnificent tallest statue in the world “Statue of Unity”.
Every Indian will be proud to be here. It’s not only the statue but there are so many to explore! pic.twitter.com/DomQhUS4aN

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) October 15, 2022

16. Legal Information Management & Briefing System(LIMBS)

LIMBS Ver.2 is an upgraded version of LIMBS and was launched in the year 2020 in collaboration with NIC. It is a dashboard based system for the user Ministries/Departments on which they can see their cases at a glance. With the concerted efforts of Ministries/Departments, the application has captured 9.24 lakh court cases (including Disposed of cases) through 14345 registered users, thereby creating a single-unified database of litigations pertaining to Union of India. The application has captured details of 3281 courts and 22930 advocates. 

Recently, EAC-PM (Economic Advisory Council to be Prime Minister) has also given access to LIMBS Portal for facilitating in preparation of white paper on UOI litigation.

During the year, over 162 training/ meeting sessions (Online/offline) have been conducted which covers Officers/Officials of various Ministries/Department. LIMBS portal integrated with Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) , Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) , Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) during this year.

New features like Form for Appearance Bill (FAB) module for Advocate, Message feature (User Registration, Next date of Hearing, Advocate bill Raise, Forgot Password) , LIMBS Feedback form, LIMBS help files, LIMBS video help file, LIMBS FAQ’s, E-Office integration for SLP module , Training and Support link, Multi Ministry report, Delhi High Court litigation module , Upload Affidavit Module , New features in Advocate Module (Case Transfer, Bill details, MIS reports ) have been added in LIMBS Portal during the year.

First in-session meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Law & Justice was held on 2^nd Aug. 2022 in which LIMBS has been presented before the Consultative Committee to showcase its advantages and potential in effective management of UoI litigation.

17. SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITIES

1. International Yoga Day (21^st June, 2022) in the Dong Valley, Arunachal Pradesh and Nainital, Uttarakhand;
2. Department of Legal Affairs conducted programme on International Yoga Day on 21^st June 2022 at the iconic locations at Dong Valley, Arunachal Pradesh and Naini Lake, Nainital, Uttarakhand under the aegis of Ministry of Ayush.

3. Digital India week – NOAP (Notary Online Application Portal) and legal information management & briefing system (4^th July -6^th July, 2022);

Department of Legal Affairs participated in the Digital India Week organized by the MeitY in Gandhinagar, Gujarat showcasing Notary Online Application Portal (NOA) and Legal Information Management & Briefing System(LIMBS).

4. COVID Vaccination Amrit Mahotsav (15^th July, 2022)

In compliance of the directions / advisory issued by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, a Vaccination Camp had been conducted in Department of Legal Affairs on 5^th Aug. 2022 and 224 officials got vaccinated with first dose / second dose / precautionary dose. 

5. Har Ghar Tiranga (13^thAugust to 15^thAugust, 2022);

Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India, in its extended efforts to celebrate “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” also initiated “Har Ghar Tiranga” Campaign with an aim to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of the citizen and promote awareness about our national flag conducted competitions in three categories viz. Essay, Debate and Post on Social Media in which law students studying in Law Colleges / Institutes across the India participated.  Winners In all the three competitions were awarded with Trophies, Cash Prizes and Certificates.

6. National Sports Day (29^thAugust, 2022);

In compliance with directions of Department of Personnel & Training, Department of Legal Affairs conducted two sports events viz. Cricket Match and Badminton match on 29^th Aug. 2022 to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend, Major Dhyan Chand.

7. Inter Ministry, Bar & Bench Badminton Championship (17^th September, 2022);

A two day Badminton Tournament  on 17^th and 18^th September 2022 was conducted at Thyag Raj Stadium, New Delhi in association with Bar Council of India.

8. Hindi Pakhwada Celebrations (29^th September, 2022) at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi;

Department of Legal Affairs conducted Hindi Pakhwada Celeberations on 29^th Dec. 2022 at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.  Various competitions in different categories were conducted by the Official Wing of the Department from 1^st Sept. 2022 to 15^th Sept. 2022 and the winners were awared Cash prizes and certificates during the programme.

9. A Special Campaign 2.0 (2^nd October, 2022) was conducted in Department of Legal Affairs in Oct. 2022 in which special drive was undertaken Record Management, Review and Digitization of files.  A visible change was seen after the special drive was over since a large number of files were weeded out in the direction of space management;

10. Ayurveda Day under Ayurveda @ 2047 – Azadi Ka Amrit Kaal (17 October, 2022);

Ayurveda Day was conducted during 10^th to 17^th Nov. 2022 as per the directions of Ministry of Ayush.  Department of Legal Affairs assigned the theme “Sharing of Experiences” under Ayurveda @ 2047 Programme.  Various officers of Department of Legal Affairs came forward with their experiences on AYURVEDA and their videos were shared on the official social handles of the department.

11. Vigilance Awareness Week;

The Department of Legal Affairs observed “Vigilance Awareness Week” of 2022 from 31^st October to 6^th November pursuant to the direction of Central Vigilance Commission. In its observance, Essay competition in Hindi and a Poster Making competition were conducted for the officials of the department and cash prices & certificates were awarded to the winners.

12. Constitution Day Celebrations (26^th November 2022)

Department of Legal Affairs organised the following activities to commemorate the Constitution Day this year on 26^th November 2022 :

      

1. 1. Reading of Preamble to the Constitution by all Officers/Offiicals of the department.
   2. A Webinar on Constitutional Values and fundamental principles of Indian Constitution was organised on 25.11.2022 in association with Indian Law Institute (ILI).
   3. ESSAY COMPETITION was organized by Indian Law Institute- from 14^th to 19^th November 2022.
   4. SIGNATURE BOARDS and other facts of the constitution through display boards in Shastri Bhawan from 8^th November 2022.
   5. Organized VIRTUAL QUIZ on the Constitution of India in association with MyGov from 10^th to 26^th November 2022.
   6. TIPS & TRICKS to memorize articles of The Constitution of India were posted on social media platforms from 10^th to 26^th November 2022.
   7. Various Activities such as Debates/Quiz/Talk Show/Competition etc. were organized by 10 National Law Universities/Colleges on request of this department and accordingly, based on the results of the events merit, participation and appreciation certificates were issued by this Department to the participating Law Universities.

13. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25^th Nov. to 10^th Dec. 2022)

Under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, in order to empower the women of country for making India a vibrant nation where gender based discrimination would have no place, the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice under the aegis of the Hon’ble Union Minister of Law & Justice Shri. Kiren Rijiju and Hon’ble Minister of State Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel envisaged hosting a Sensitization & Awareness Workshop and Nukkad Natak to sensitize the officers and staff at Shastri Bhawan.  An awareness and sensitisation workshop on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act, 2013 was conducted on 6th December 2022 at Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi.  Dr. Anju Rathi Rana, Additional Secretary convened the workshop by giving a welcome address before the attendees. Law Secretary Dr. Niten Chandra while presiding the event also welcomed the resource person Advocate (Supreme Court) Shri Shashank Shekhar in his address and kick started the interactive workshop. In addition to this, a Nukkad Natak on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act, 2013 was performed by the students of Culture Society, Campus Law Centre, Delhi University on 7 December, 2022 at Shastri Bhawan for raising awareness and to inculcate the spirit of respect and honour equally towards the women in society.

18. INDIAN LAW INSTITUTE

Web Series of Lectures/ Conferences/ Talk/ Seminars conducted by the Indian Law Institute (ILI), two books released and other publications have been released by ILI.

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SS/RKM

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