Jammu & Kashmir High Court - Srinagar Bench
Tahira Qayoom vs Ut Of Jk And Ors on 21 May, 2025
Serial No. 156
Suppl. List
IN HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH
AT SRINAGAR
WP(C)No. 1123/2025
Tahira Qayoom ...Petitioner(s)
Through: Mr. Nazish, Advocate
Vs.
UT of JK and Ors. ...Respondent(s)
Through: None
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE WASIM SADIQ NARGAL, JUDGE.
ORDER
21.05.2025
1. The record reveals that the instant petition was listed on 19 th May,
2025, on which date, learned counsel appearing for the
respondents, sought adjournment on the ground that she wants to
go through the Judgment passed by Jammu Wing of this Court in
an identical matter.
2. Today, when the case was taken up, there was no representation on
behalf of the respondents. Day in and day out, this Court has been
observing that no effective assistance is rendered on behalf of the
respondents by all Advocates duly engaged by the Law
Department representing the various departments. It is a routine
affair in this Court that in most of the cases only Assisting Counsel
are causing their appearance and the Counsel duly engaged are
avoiding to cause appearance or rendering effective assistance .
3. In legal proceedings, the non-appearance of a government
Advocate, particularly without a valid reason or proper
justification, can be interpreted as a breach of duty and potentially
lead to adverse consequences for the Government or the relevant
party. Such an action could be seen as a failure to fulfill their
responsibilities and may result in the case being decided against
them, especially if the non-appearance is deemed to be intentional
or prejudicial to the other party. Thus, the non-appearance of a
Government Advocate might be viewed as equivalent to a failure
to meet their professional obligations or a lack of diligence which
could have serious repercussions in the legal proceedings.
4. Even the non-appearance of the Government Advocates has
already been viewed seriously by the Hon'ble Division Bench of
this Court in case titled Farid Ahmad vs. State of Jammu and
Kashmir registered as CRA No. 17/2010, wherein expressing
displeasure the following has observed vide Order dated 23rd July,
2024:-
"....From tomorrow onwards, i.e. 24.07.2024, if the counsels for
the Union Territory Government is not present before this Court
and reason for their absence is on account of his appearance
before another Hon'ble Court on the ground of appearing for a
particular department, this Court shall be at liberty to impose a
cost on the State of Rs. 5,000/- or more at the very first instance.
This order is being passed out of sheer exasperation that this
Court has experienced for more than a year, where repeatedly
when matters are called out and the Court is ready to hear and
decide the matter, the same cannot culminate in any effective
hearing on account of the absence of the counsel for the Union
Territory Government and the matter is passed over in the first
round and 3 CRA No. 17/2010 thereafter when the counsel is
available to argue the matter, the Court may be in the midst of
hearing another case and therefore, the case gets adjourned on
account of the non-availability of the counsel for the State/UT."
5. In the aforesaid backdrop, this Court directs the Secretary,
Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to
personally appear in this case before this Court tomorrow i.e., on
22nd May, 2025, who shall ensure that an appropriate mechanism is
put in place to monitor the representation of all Government
Advocates in the matters listed before this Court for the
departments assigned to them. The present Order is only an
attempt to put in place a mechanism to render effective assistance
with regard to the representation of the Government Advocates for
Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
6. List tomorrow i.e., 22nd May,2025.
7. Copy of this Order be forwarded to Secretary, Department of Law,
Justice and Parliamentary Affairs for information and compliance.
(WASIM SADIQ NARGAL)
JUDGE
SRINAGAR:
21.05.2025
"Shamim Dar"
