The Telangana government has launched the Court Case Monitoring System (CCMS) to improve coordination between government departments and the judiciary, as the state faces around 40,000 pending court cases. The system is being piloted in the home, revenue and higher education departments.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had constituted a committee to study the CCMS implemented in Bihar. After examining the Bihar model, the committee recommended adopting a similar mechanism in Telangana, which the government has now approved.
Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao issued a government order on January 9, appointing Sunil Reddy as head of the system. The CCMS will work in coordination with the legal department and generate regular reports on case progress.
With the CCMS, officials, from principal secretaries to mandal-level officers, can access real-time information on pending cases, deadlines for filing counter-affidavits, and court orders. The system is expected to help departments make timely and informed decisions on litigation.
Explaining how the CCMS would address existing problems, an official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that when private individuals file cases against the government, they often array officials ranging from mandal revenue officers to principal secretaries as respondents, even though action is usually required at the mandal level. Due to poor internal communication, departments frequently fail to understand the nature of cases in time, leading to delays and weak responses.
“Once the department clearly understands a case, it can ensure that the right action is taken at the appropriate level,” the official said, adding that the system would help streamline litigation management, ensure accountability and ultimately reduce the burden on courts.
To understand the background of the CCMS, the Indian state is the single largest litigant in the courts. More than half of the 5.4 crore pending cases in courts involve the central, state and local governments. The absence of a dedicated nodal mechanism to coordinate among departments has long been seen as a major weakness in handling government litigation. Several states have begun introducing CCMS platforms since 2023. Odisha was the first state to roll out such a system and other states have been adopting it.
