Supreme Court imposes Rs 15,000 fine on State Govt for delay in filing Appeal

The Apex Court has imposed a cost of Rs 15,000 on the UP Govt for filing an appeal in a case with a delay of 1,006 days observing that cautions extended to State Govts from time to time are falling on deaf ear.

A Bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul irked with the UP Govt noted that no action is ever taken against the personnel responsible for the delay & to save their skin, these appeals are filed wasting judicial time.

The bench, while imposing costs of Rs 15,000 on the Govt of Uttar Pradesh and dismissing the appeal, said the Court has had an opportunity to deal with such matters & have extended cautions to the State Govts not to come to this Court only to obtain the certificate of dismissal what we have called as "certificate cases", so as to put a quietus to the matter & absolve the officers of the responsibility of not having performed their duties.

"If the petitioners feel that the period of limitation prescribed by the Legislature is not sufficient, given their inefficiencies & incompetence, then it is for them to persuade the Legislature to change the Law of Limitation so far as applicable to the Government is concerned. Till the Law remains, it must be applied as it stands," the bench said in its order passed last week.

The appeal was filed against a Labour Court order award passed on Nov 5, 2009, in favour of one Prem Chandra who was engaged as a Beldar/Chaukidar on Aug 1, 1985, & claims to have continuously worked for up to April 30, 1987. He had raised an industrial dispute as he was retrenched without following due process of law.

In 2017, the High Court of Allahabad also upheld the Trial Court order. However, the appeal in the Supreme Court was filed after a delay of 1,006 days & a refiling delay of 235 days.

The bench said it has set out the facts of the case to show the "callous manner" in which these proceedings have gone on.

The Bench said that "The fact that the matter should have gone on for two decades before the Tribunal in case of a labour dispute is itself a travesty of justice. That the petitioner (government) takes its own time to assail the same before the High Court is the next stage & finally, it has taken them almost three years to get this petition before the Supreme Court".

The Supreme Court noted that the reasons stated in the application for condonation of delay are usual, showing the file moving from one place to the other.

The Order said that "We have had an opportunity to deal with such matters & have extended cautions to the State Govts not to come to this Court only to obtain the certificate of dismissal what we have called as "certificate cases", so as to put a quietus to the matter & absolve the officers of the responsibility of not having performed their duties. It appears that the cautions extended from time to time are falling on deaf ear".

The bench, while imposing the cost, also said that the State Govt should recover the costs from the officers responsible for the delay.

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