Costly Delay

The Court has imposed fines on states and public authorities for adopting an approach where they can walk in as and when they please, ignoring the period of limitation prescribed by statutes

- Shivam Sharma

IN a recent order, the apex court imposed Rs 25,000 on Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka for their lethargy and incompetence in approaching the Court after a long period of delay. A three-judge bench of Justices SK Kaul, Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy imposed the fine while hearing proceedings where the two states requested the bench to admit Special Leave Petitions (SLP). The SLP filed by UP was after a delay of 502 days and in the case of Karnataka it was after 1,288 days.

The bench observed: “We have repeatedly discouraged State Governments and public authorities in adopting an approach that they can walk into the Supreme Court as and when they please ignoring the period of limitation prescribed by the Statutes, as if the Limitation statute does not apply to them.” The Court said it had categorised such cases as “certificate cases” which are being filed with the sole objective of completing a mere formality and “to save the skin of the officers who may be in default in following the due process or may have done it deliberately”.

It mentioned a 2012 judgment of the Office of the Chief Post Master General & Ors. vs Living Media India Ltd. & Anr where the Court held that government departments have a special obligation to ensure that they perform their duties with diligence and commitment. Con donation of a delay is an exception and should not be used as an anticipated benefit for government departments, it said. The law shelters everyone and it should not be swirled for the benefit of a few.