Railways Release Procedure For Empanlment Of Advocates In Courts And Tribunals

The revised arrangement follows a review by the Department of Legal Affairs, which, in its Office Memorandum proposed changes in the conduct of litigation for the Railways. As a result, the Railway Board has outlined a three-tiered framework:

“(i) Supreme Court & High Courts: Conduct of Railway's litigation before Supreme Court and all High Courts be carried out by the Advocates/Counsels on panel of Department of Legal Affairs.”

“(ii) Tribunals (CAT/RCT etc.): For conducting Railway's litigation before Tribunals, panel of advocates would be prepared by Ministry of Railways with the approval of Hon’ble Minister of Railways and would be submitted for final concurrence of Hon’ble Minister of Law and Justice.”

“(iii) District & Subordinate Courts: For conducting Railway's litigation before these courts, Advocates may be empanelled by Zonal Railways (with approval of GM) at prescribed eligibility conditions and fee terms.”

The procedure for empanelment has been elaborated in the annexure attached to the circular. Zonal Railways are required to invite applications from advocates in the prescribed proforma (Annexure-I), from those “possessing the requisite qualifications and experience as specified in Annexure-II.” These applications will undergo independent scrutiny, including “physical verification of their offices, library or their sitting place,” and shortlisted candidates will be called for “personal interaction on the specified date/dates.”

The empanelment process will be overseen by a Committee of Officials nominated by Railway Board, headed by the Legal Adviser. The finalized list of advocates will be submitted for approval to the Hon’ble Minister of Railways and subsequently to the Hon’ble Minister of Law & Justice.

For CAT panels, the policy specifies that each CAT would be having one Standing Counsel, with special provisions for CAT Kolkata and CAT Mumbai, where two Standing Counsels will be appointed due to higher workload. It further clarifies that “Standing Counsel at CAT will be placed in the list of Panel Counsels and not in Special Counsels.”

The advocates will be categorized as, “Special Counsels (Advocates with minimum 10 years exp. as Advocate) and Panel Counsels (Advocates with minimum 5 years exp. as Advocate).”

In respect of District & Subordinate Courts, the empanelment process mirrors that of tribunals but is managed entirely by the concerned Zonal Railways. Final approval of panels rests solely with the General Manager and shall not be delegated.

The directive also encourages applications from superannuated Railway Officials, having legal background and experience in handling Railway’s legal matters and who have enrolled as Advocate, noting that their tenure in legal matters during service may be considered for eligibility.

Empanelled advocates will be assigned various duties including, “a) To appear in the said Tribunals, Courts and other Statutory bodies in the case assigned to them.

b) To give legal advice to the Zonal Railway on such civil, criminal and other matters arising in the course of administration of the Zonal Railway as are referred to them by DGM(Law) for Zonal headquarters and Sr.Law Officer/Law Offrcer in case of Divisions and Production Units, for the purposes of:

i) Examination and settling of drafts of legal nature;

ii) Drafting of applications, petitions etc. to be frled in courts of law; However, final vetting of the documents will aw of zonal Railwavs. )e

iii) Prompt removal/curing of defects in appeals/petitions Iiled, as may be pointed out by the registry:

c) Giving opinion regarding the admissibility of filing an appeal from such a d.ecision not more than the three working days of the receipt of such order, when any case attended to by him is decided against tlne Zonal Railway.

d) To apply for the copy of the judgment of the Courts, Tribunals and other Statutory bodies in a case attended by him on the sarne day or the next day and provide the copy within seven days of the receipt of the order (excluding the time taken by the Court in preparation of the copy):

e) To render, if required, all assistance to the Law Ofhcers, Speciai or Senior Counsel, who may be engaged in particular case before the Supreme Court, High Court, Tribunal etc.

f) To keep the Zonal Railway informed of the important developments in the case from time to time particularly with regard to drafting, hling of papers, dates of hearing of the case, order of the Court on the date of its pronouncement, supplying copies of judgment etc.

g) To furnish to tlre ZonaT Railway monthly statement about the cases represented by him before the Tribunals, Courts and other Statutory bodies.

h) To perform such other duties of legal nature, which may be assigned to him by the Zonal Railway.

i) In case of deletion of name or change of panel counsel, the erstwhile panel counsel to hand over the case file to the concerned Law Officer within 5 working days.”

The allocation of cases will be managed by “DGM(Law)... for Zonal headquarters and Sr. Law Officer... for Divisions and Production Units,” and a quarterly statement will be submitted to the GM. DGM(Law) is designated as the “single-window between Zonal Railway and Advocates.”

The term of empanelment is fixed for “a period of three years which may further be extended on yearly basis (max two times), subject to performance.” The policy allows for mid-term resignation, removal, or addition of advocates with proper approvals.

It added, “The fee of the advocates shall be paid/sanctioned by the competent Authority as per fee structure adopted by Ministry of Railways from time to time.”

On matters requiring interpretation or in case of ambiguity, the policy clearly states that, “In respect of any clarification or removal of difficulties, the decision of the Legal Adviser (Railways) shall be final.”