One of three departments in the Ministry of Law and Justice, Legal Affairs advises the Indian government and litigates on its behalf. Each year, the department responds to more than 5,000 inquiries from the government and handles thousands of court cases on its behalf.

The department also handles secondary tasks like providing legal aid to the poor; implementing and enforcing international treaties; administering appellate tribunals on income tax and foreign exchange cases; providing an institutional home for the 20th Law Commission; and overseeing the credentialing of India’s lawyers.

The Ministry of Law and Justice is the “oldest limb” of the Indian government, tracing its history back to the colonial Charter Act of 1833. The legislation legalized the colonization of India and vested power to rule over India with the Governor General alongside his Executive Council. The act also established a seat for a non-voting Law Member on the Executive Council, with Thomas Babington Macaulay the first to serve. Macaulay headed the first law commission, created in 1834 to codify law in India. 

The ministry has since evolved with changing political circumstances in colonial and independent India. The Government of India Act of 1919 formally created the Ministry of Law and Justice while also establishing a system of dual rule, or diarchy, in India. With the partially implemented Government of India Act of 1935, the Department of Legal Affairs was born in 1947, alongside the independent Indian state. In 1952, under the Notaries Act, the department was tasked with overseeing notaries in India.

As with many other Indian government bodies, its responsibilities were codified by the Allocation of Business Rules of 1961. 

The core work of the Department of Legal Affairs can be broken down into advice and litigation.  The department delivers legal advice to government departments and ministries as well as such major public sector organizations as the Railway Board and the Central Bureau of Investigation. 

The department represents nearly all government ministries and departments as well as some Union Territories at the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court, and lower courts in Delhi.

One unit of the department deals specifically with implementing recommendations of the Law Commission and regulating the legal profession. Other department staff work on monitoring and promoting legal aid for the poor. The department also houses appellate tribunals for income tax and foreign exchange cases and promotes legal research.

One of the more important departmental undertakings is the Law Commission, which is tasked with examining which laws have become obsolete, the intersection of law and poverty, reducing India’s courtroom backlog, and recommending steps that might increase gender equality in India, among other topics.  The commission is among the most prominent bodies on legal reform in India; as such, its recommendations are generally taken seriously, at times becoming the basis for changes in the law. 

Attached Bodies or Autonomous Bodies

Appellate Tribunal for Foreign Exchange (ATFE)

The ATFE was established in 2000 to hear appeals to official decisions made under the Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999.

Bar Council of India

The Bar Council of India is a statutory body established in 1961 that “regulates and represents” the Indian legal profession.

Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT)

CESTAT was created in 1982 to serve as an independent body that would hear appeals on customs and excise matters. It also now hears appeals relating to service taxes.

Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT)

ITAT is a quasi court that hears appeals regarding decisions by income tax officials. 

Indian Law Institute

The Indian Law Institute is an autonomous body established in 1956 to promote and conduct legal research.

International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ICADR)

ICADR was created in 1995 to promote ways of resolving legal issues besides the courts. Operating under the Ministry of Law and Justice’s umbrella, it is seen as another way to attempt to reduce India’s large backlog in the courts.

Law Commission

Throughout its colonial and independent history, the Indian state has periodically appointed law commissions to examine and report on areas of prospective legal reform. Since independence, these have addressed issues as diverse as the applicability of colonial laws, marriage law, and the death penalty.

The 20th law commission was established in October 2012 and will function until October 2015. It is tasked with looking at which laws have become obsolete, examining the intersection of law and poverty, reducing India’s courtroom backlog, and recommending steps that might increase gender equality in India, among other topics.

National Legal Services Authority (NALSA)

NALSA provides legal aid for the poor and other marginalized sectors of society.  Constituted in 1995, it began work in 1998 at the top of India’s legal aid system. 

National Tax Tribunal

The National Tax Tribunal was legislated into existence in 2005, but has yet to begin operating. Its purpose is to handle appeals from judgments rendered by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal and the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal.  Currently, appeals to judgments by those bodies are taken in High Courts, where there is a large backlog of cases.

The 2013-14 budget of the Department of Legal Affairs, including attached and autonomous bodies, is approximately Rs 227.75 crore ($41.9 million USD).  In fiscal year 2014, the department’s two major line items are for the National Legal Services Authority (57%) and for the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (22%).  The former seeks to ensure legal aid for the poor while the latter adjudicates appeals on income tax related matters. Most of the rest of the department’s budget goes to paying for the activities of its secretariat, which handles its core functions.

Crooks at the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal

Despite focusing on the law, the Department of Legal Affairs has not been immune to charges of corruption. The Central Bureau of Investigation has identified 20 officials of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) for arrest for collusion and corruption.  It alleged that a Kolkata-based ITAT official colluded with a private firm to arrange for favorable judgments for the firm’s clients. As many as 69 separate income tax judgments by ITAT may have been affected.

US Firm ‘Bribed’ Customs Panel Judge, CBI Steps In (by Ritu Sarin, Indian Express)

CBI Likely To Register Cases Against Members of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (Times of India)

Eliminate Obsolete Laws

Eliminating obsolete laws is one of the most pressing tasks ahead of the 20th law commission, which was established in October 2012 and empanelled until August 31, 2015. The commission has plenty of work to do. In states like Maharashtra, the drinking age remains 25, a whopping seven years more than the voting age. Another strange statute comes from Section 309, which holds that it’s illegal to try to kill yourself. If a person succeeds, no charges will be brought against their estate.

There are also more serious laws that date back to the colonial era, which many politicians are loath to see changed. They include: The sedition law and the Land Acquisition Act.  The former has been used to jail dissident Binayak Sen and the latter is often used to acquire land that is often given to large corporations at below market prices.

The Binayak Sen Case Timeline (Hindustan Times)

Govt Pushes for Land Bill with Eye on 2014 (Times of India)

Should The National Tax Tribunal Exist? 

The National Tax Tribunal was legislated into existence in 2005 and is budgeted for in 2013-14, but it has yet to hear a single case. The body is meant to hear appeals to the judgments of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal and other tax tribunals.  Those appeals are currently heard in High Courts.

The National Tax Tribunal Should Exist

Proponents of the National Tax Tribunal argue that because the High Courts have only one bench to hear tax cases, the current backlog of approximately 40,000 tax cases will not go away. Moreover, there is a lengthy waiting period of several years for appeals to finally reach the High Courts.  They point out that an enormous sum of money from tax judgments is thereby held up in court.

Move for National Tax Tribunal and Taking Way HC Jurisdiction Retrograde, Says Expert (The Hindu)

Tribunals in Trouble? (MoneyControl)

The National Tax Tribunal Shouldn’t Exist

Opponents of the proposed court hold a variety of opinions and include professional bodies for lawyers and accountants. Some argue that it is more appropriate for appeals to be heard by the High Court, rather than a tribunal. Others argue that it is not necessary to create a new tribunal, and that simply increasing the number of cases High Courts can hear would do the trick. An association of tax lawyers has brought a number of specific objections before the Supreme Court, some of which the Court has agreed the Government must attend to. Other affected professional bodies have also objected.

SC Ruling Stalls National Tax Tribunal (Times Of India)

India’s National Tax Tribunal Attacked by Professional Bodies (by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com)

Veerappa Moily

Veerappa Moily served as Union Cabinet Minister for Law and Justice from 2009 to 2011. He represented Chickballapur, Karnataka in the Lok Sabya. Moily had previously served as Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Official Biography