Supreme Court Reaffirms 'Model Litigant' Status: Moving Beyond Adversarial Governance
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The Supreme Court has emphasized that the State must act as a facilitator of justice rather than an adversary to its citizens in administrative disputes. This ruling reinforces the Social Contract theory, highlighting the State's duty to protect rights and ensure fair play.
The Supreme Court of India, in a significant observation, has reiterated that the State must function as a 'model litigant' and refrain from adopting an adversarial approach toward its own citizens. The Court noted that in a constitutional democracy, the State’s primary role is to facilitate justice rather than to obstruct it through technicalities or the sheer weight of its sovereign power.
The concept of a 'model litigant' implies that the government should not pursue frivolous litigation, should be fair in its dealings with the court, and should not take advantage of its own administrative lapses to deny citizens their rights. This is particularly relevant in service matters, land acquisition, and pension disputes where the power imbalance between the individual and the State is most pronounced. The Court observed that the State should not litigate for the sake of litigating, especially when the legal position is clear or the dispute involves a citizen's basic entitlements.
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