The Supreme Court has instructed all States to hold government officers accountable for delays in filing appeals or cases on behalf of the government that result in financial losses to the public exchequer.

Observing that many appeals are delayed due to failures in timely communication of decisions to higher authorities, the Court noted that such inefficiencies often lead to dismissal of appeals on the grounds of delay, even when the cases involve significant public interest. A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan expressed frustration with such recurring issues and directed States to overhaul their litigation management processes. The Court emphasized the need to fix responsibility on negligent officials and penalize them for causing losses to the government.

These remarks were made while dismissing a Special Leave Petition filed by the State of Madhya Pradesh, which sought to condone a delay of over five years (1788 days) in filing a second appeal. The dispute pertained to a land title, where the trial court ruled in favor of a private party, rejecting the government's claim. Despite the judgment being delivered on August 21, 2014, the delay in filing the appeal was attributed to lapses at multiple levels: the Government Advocate informed the Collector only after a year, and subsequent delays at the Collector’s office and the Law Department compounded the issue. Ultimately, the appeal was filed on October 18, 2019.

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's decision to dismiss the appeal, stating that the delay was inadequately explained. Referring to its recent ruling in Union of India v. Jahangir Byramji Jeejeebhoy, the bench reiterated that delays should not be excused merely as an act of generosity.

While rejecting the appeal, the Court stressed the importance of addressing systemic inefficiencies. "At the same time, we cannot simply brush aside the delay occurred in preferring the second appeal, due to callous and lackadaisical attitude on the part of the officials functioning in the State machinery. Though the Government adopts systematic approach in handling the legal issues and preferring the petitions/applications/appeals well within the time, due to the fault on the part of the officials in merely communicating the information on time, huge revenue loss will be caused to the Government exchequer. The present case is one such case, wherein, enormous delay of 1788 days occasioned in preferring the second appeal due to the lapses on the part of the officials functioning under the State, though valuable Government lands were involved.Therefore, 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), who is/are responsible for delay, deviation, lapses, etc., if any, to the value of the loss caused to the Government. Such direction will have to be followed by all the States scrupulously." the bench remarked.

It directed the State to streamline its mechanisms for handling legal matters, including offering legal opinions, preparing appeals, and filing cases in a timely manner. The Court mandated that States fix responsibility on officials accountable for delays and penalize them proportionately to the losses incurred by the government. It also ordered that such measures be implemented uniformly across all States.

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal with a cost of ₹1 lakh and issued a stern warning to States against filing baseless appeals. 

Cause Title : State of Madhya Pradesh v. Ramkumar Choudhary

Date: November-29-2024

Bench: Justice JB Pardiwala, Justice R. Mahadevan