It seems that now, for the Uttar Pradesh government, the Supreme Court of India is a joke!
The Supreme Court of India has imposed a fine of ₹15,000 on the UP government for “wastage of judicial time”. The UP government has repeatedly failed to file an appeal for a case in the court for over 500 days.
What Happened?
The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government had filed an appeal against labour court award which was upheld by the Allahabad High Court in 2017.
But, the high court’s division bench dismissed the appeal against the January 2018 order approved by a single-judge bench. This order directed the department responsible to regularise the labour laws.
Following this decision, a Special Leave Petition (SLP) was filed by the UP government. An SLP allows the petitioner to get a special hearing in the Supreme Court in any appeal against a judgment or order of any court in India.
But, it seems that the constant warnings and extension in dates for filing the SPL in time are falling on deaf ears, as remarked by the Supreme Court while dismissing a Special Leave Petition.
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What Was The Reason For The Delay?
As per the UP government in their application for condonation of the delay, the reason for the delay in the application was due to file movement from one place to another.
What Did The Supreme Court Say?
Observing the delay in filing of the appeal, the bench headed by Justice S K Kaul commented on the lack of even showing the “courtesy” of setting out the dates as to how the required files had moved.
Addressing the issue, the bench in its 1st December order said, “The special leave petition is delayed by 576 days (535 days as the senior counsel contends). There is not even the courtesy of setting out the dates as to how the files have moved, possibly because we have been directing responsibility to be fixed and costs to be recovered from such persons who are responsible for the delay”.
The bench also comprised of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy.
The bench also noted, “We dismiss the special leave petition on the ground of delay, but for wastage of judicial time, consider appropriate to burden the petitioner with costs of ₹ 15,000 to be deposited with the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Welfare Fund”.
“Thus, we are once again faced with a matter so as to obtain a certificate of dismissal and such cases we have categorised as ”certificate cases”, brought before this court only to put a quietus to the matter and not fix the responsibility on the officers who are responsible for the situation,” the bench added.
The Supreme Court bench ordered that the fine should be recovered from the officers responsible for the delay in the filing of the appeal.
The judicial bench also remarked that no measures have been ever taken against any person responsible for the delay, and to protect themselves, these SLPs are filed, thus wasting the judiciary’s time.
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Sources: NDTV, The Times Of India, The Tribune
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This post is tagged under: Wastage of Judicial Time, Supreme Court of India, Uttar Pradesh government, delay, lost files, government fined, SC fines government, tax money, failed to file appeal, labour court award, Allahabad High Court, regularise the labour laws, Special Leave Petition, SLP, Justice S K Kaul, no courtesy, lack of courtesy by government, justice Dinesh Maheshwari, justice Hrishikesh Roy, Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Welfare Fund
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