Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that as many as 21,799 cases of the State government are pending in the High Court and told Additional Advocates-General (AAGs) that any laxity will not be tolerated.

Chairing a meeting of AAGs on Thursday, he said no action had been initiated in 5,016 cases of the government.

In many cases, the government had suffered setbacks owing to lack preparation and ineffective arguments on the cases. Why are orders not coming in favour of the government even in cases which it should have won? he asked.

“You are all senior advocates. It is your responsibility to safeguard the government’s interest. Your laxity will be tolerated for any reason,” the Chief Minister warned.

Noting that stay orders were easily obtained against the government in many cases, he asked advocates, “Why are there increasing cases of stay orders not cleared for years? Action should be taken to clear the stay orders in cases against the government as soon as possible,” he said.

The Chief Minister said the government faced embarrassment in some minor cases. “It [the government] should not be embarrassed by your mistakes,” he told advocates.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil, the Chief Minister’s legal adviser A.S. Ponnanna, MLA, and senior officials were present.