The Supreme Court has mandated all States to revamp their legal processes to eliminate delays in filing appeals, highlighted in Madhya Pradesh v. Ramkumar Choudhary, where a delay of 1,788 days led to dismissal. The Court stressed accountability for officials and imposed a penalty on Madhya Pradesh, aiming to prevent revenue losses and ensure timely justice.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued a stern directive to all States, urging them to overhaul their legal processes to prevent undue delays in filing appeals, which often result in losses for the government. The apex court’s order came in the case of State of Madhya Pradesh v. Ramkumar Choudhary, where a delay of 1,788 days in filing a second appeal led to its dismissal.
A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan observed that delays in filing appeals are frequently caused by a failure of State officers to promptly communicate court decisions to higher authorities. The court directed all States to streamline their legal machinery, ensuring timely legal opinions and filing of cases.
“We direct the State to streamline the machinery touching the legal issues, offering legal opinion, filing of cases before the Tribunal / Courts, etc., fix the responsibility on the officer(s) concerned, and penalize the officer(s) responsible for delay, deviation, lapses, etc., if any, to the value of the loss caused to the Government,”
the court said in its November 29 order.
The case arose from a 2013 trial court judgment, which held that the disputed land belonged to the government. However, the first appellate court overturned the decision in 2014. The delay began when the appellate court’s decision was communicated to the Collector in 2015, more than a year after the verdict.
Further delays occurred as the Law Department took nearly three years (until 2018) to grant permission for filing a second appeal, which was ultimately filed in October 2019. The High Court dismissed this appeal, citing the unexplained delay of nearly five years.
The Supreme Court agreed with the High Court’s dismissal, noting that “valuable government lands were involved” but were lost due to “callous and lackadaisical attitude” of the officials.
“Though the Government adopts a systematic approach in handling legal issues, delays caused by officials merely communicating information late result in significant revenue loss,”
the court observed.
The court imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the State of Madhya Pradesh and directed all States to enforce accountability. “Fix the responsibility on the officers responsible for the delay and penalize them accordingly,” the bench asserted, emphasizing the need for efficient governance.
This ruling serves as a wake-up call for all States to improve coordination and avoid similar lapses. By holding officials accountable for delays, the Supreme Court aims to protect valuable government assets and uphold justice in a timely manner.
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