The Supreme Court has imposed a fine ofRs 25,000 on Gujarat for wasting judicial time, irked over the “lethargy and incompetence” of the state government in filing a petition before it after a delay of over a year.
A bench, headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, pulled up the state for approaching the apex court in a “casual manner” and dismissed the plea on the ground of delay.
It observed that such kind of “certificate cases” are filed with the only objective to obtain a quietus from the top court on the ground that nothing could be done because the highest court had dismissed the appeal.
The petition was filed in the the top court by the state government after a delay of 427 days against an order of the Gujarat High Court passed in March 2019 in a case.
“The objective is to complete a mere formality and save the skin of the officers who may be in default in following the due process or may have done it deliberately. We have deprecated such practice and process and we do so again.
“We refuse to grant such certificates and if the government suffers losses, it is time when concerned officers responsible for the same bear the consequences,” said the bench, also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy.
“The irony, emphasised by us repeatedly, is that no action is ever taken against the officers and if the court pushes it, some mild warning is all that happens,” the bench said in its order passed earlier this week.