SC imposes Rs 1 lakh cost on UP govt, says litigation can't be taken casually
Dec 20, 2022
New Delhi [India], December 20 : The Supreme Court has rejected the plea of the Uttar Pradesh government with a cost of Rs 1 lakh while slamming it for filing an appeal over an inordinate delay of 1,173 days against a judgement of the Allahabad High Court and that too with "incorrect particulars".
A bench of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy said it has no doubt that such matters are filed in a "cursory manner" so the petitions are dismissed.
It said, "We are left with no doubt that such matters are filed in a cursory manner to somehow seek certification of dismissal by the Supreme Court. We thoroughly disapprove of such a practice and feel necessary to impose costs on the petitioners."
The Uttar Pradesh government and others had challenged the May 2019 judgement of the High Court which enhanced the compensation to a Jaunpur-based woman for her land that was acquired by the government.
It noted that the petition was filed in the top court on October 31, 2022, against the judgement pronounced by the High Court in May 2019.
The reason for filing the plea after such a long time was to state that due to the Covid-19 pandemic the special leave petition (SLP) could not be filed immediately.
"A cursory reference to the pandemic situation is baseless for the reason that no such situation was prevalent on the date of passing of the order by the high court and at least seven months thereafter," the bench noted in its order.
It is "disturbing" to notice that the application was filed in a "casual manner", said the apex court while referring to a paragraph in the application and noted the date of judgment and particulars of the appeal were not of the present matter at all.
It said, "Obviously, such incorrect particulars have occurred because of preparation of the application in a casual manner, essentially with reproduction or copying of the contents from any other application."
"The State litigation, in our view, cannot be taken so casually that the application seeking to explain an inordinate delay of 1,173 days is filed bereft of all the necessary particulars and is containing incorrect particulars. Thus, the application seeking condonation of delay is rejected and this petition is, therefore, dismissed with costs quantified at Rs 1,00,000 to be deposited by the petitioner-State in the welfare fund of the Supreme Court Employees Welfare Association within four weeks from today," it said.
The top court left it open for the government to recover the cost from the officers responsible for filing the petition with an "inexplicable delay without sufficient cause" and without any justification.
