NDLI: The State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors. Vs. Bherulal

The State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors. Vs. Bherulal

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The State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors. Vs. Bherulal

Content Provider	Supreme Court of India
e-ISSN	30484839
Language	English
Access Restriction	NDLI
Subject Keyword	SLP Limitation Delay
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Law Judgement
Jurisdiction	India
Case Type	Special Leave Petition
Court	Supreme Court of India
Disposal Nature	Petition Dismissed
Headnote	Limitation: Delay – In filing SLP – By Government-litigant – Held: Supreme Court cannot be a place for the Governments to walk-in, ignoring the period of limitation – Despite strong deprecation by the Court for such practice, there is no improvement – In matters where there are inordinate delay, the State Authorities must pay for wastage of judicial time – In the present case in view of the period of delays and the manner in which the application seeking condonation of delay has been worded, cost of Rs. 25,000/- is imposed, which would be recoverable from the officers responsible – On failure to deposit the cost in time, contempt proceedings to be initiated against the Chief Secretary. Dismissing the petition as time barred, the Court.HELD: 1. The Supreme Court of India cannot be a place for the Governments to walk in when they choose, ignoring the period of limitation prescribed. If the Government machinery is so inefficient and incapable of filing appeals/petitions in time, the solution may lie in requesting the Legislature to expand the time period for filing limitation for Government authorities because of their gross incompetence. That is not so. Till the Statute subsists, the appeals/petitions have to be filed as per the Statutes prescribed. [Para 2][914-C-D] 2. A preposterous proposition is sought to be propounded that if there is some merit in the case, the period of delay is to be given a go-by. This does not, take away the jurisdiction of the Court in an appropriate case to condone the delay. The object appears to be to obtain a certificate of dismissal from the Supreme Court to put a quietus to the issue and thus, say that nothing could be done because the highest Court has dismissed the appeal. It is to complete this formality and save the skin of officers who may be at default that such a process is followed. The purpose of coming to this Court is not to obtain such certificates and if the Government suffers losses, it is time when the concerned officer responsible for the same bears the consequences. The irony is that in none of the cases any action is taken against the officers, who sit on the files and do nothing.[Paras 5 and 6][915-G-H; 916- A-C]3. The reason for inordinate delay in the present case is stated to be only “due to unavailability of the documents and the process of arranging the documents”. In all matters, where there are such inordinate delays that the Government or State authorities coming before this Court, must pay for wastage of judicial time which has its own value. Such costs can be recovered from the officers responsible. Looking to the period of delay and the casual manner in which the application has been worded, it would be appropriate to impose costs on the petitioner-State of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees twenty five thousand) to be deposited with the Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee. The amount be deposited in four weeks. [Paras 4 and 7, 8][915-F; 916-D-F] 4. If the aforesaid order is not complied within time, the Court will be constrained to initiate contempt proceedings against the Chief Secretary. [Para 10][916-G]
Judge	Hon'ble Mr. Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul
Neutral Citation	2020 INSC 602
Petitioner	The State Of Madhya Pradesh & Ors.
Respondent	Bherulal
SCR	[2020] 8 S.C.R. 912
Judgement Date	2020-10-15
Case Number	9217

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