SUPREME COURT DIRECTS ALL STATES: PENALIZE GOVT OFFICERS WHO CAUSE DELAY IN FILING OF APPEALS

The Supreme Court in the case State of Madhya Pradesh v. Ramkumar Choudhary observed and has directed all States to fix liability on government officers who cause delay in the filing of appeals or cases on behalf of the government and thereby cause loss to the public exchequer.

The court in the case observed that in many cases, the filing of appeals are delayed, which is due to the failure to communicate the decisions to the higher authorities in time.

The court in the case dismissed the appeal, which was based on the grounds of delay, although the subject matter is highly valuable. The bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan was hearing the present matter.

The bench in the case asked the States to streamline their machinery on litigation in order to fix responsibility on the officers and penalize them for the value of loss caused to the government.

In the present case, the special leave petition was filed by the State of Madhya Pradesh against the refusal of the High Court to condone the enormous delay of over 5 years, 1788 days, in the filing of a second appeal.

The present issue relates to land over which the trial court declared that a private person had the title, wherein the court rejected the claim of the government.

On August 21, 2014, the First Appellate Tribunal delivered the judgment.