HC reprimands Edu Deptt for callous approach on court verdicts
HC reprimands Edu Deptt for callous approach on court verdicts
Srinagar, Apr 07 : The High Court has reprimanded the Education Department for keeping the court verdict as it is and challenging the same after a lapse of about two years and dismissed the batch of appeals by observing that the Courts cannot come to the aid and rescue of the Government where the delay has not been spelt out.
A judgment of writ court passed in 2018 was challenged by the Education Department through its Commissioner/ Secretary by filing a batch of appeals.
The Government was directed to consider the case of its contingent paid and local fund paid employees for giving them the benefit of regularization and absorption against the Class-IV posts in terms of and from the date when SRO 308 of 2008, was issued, with all the consequential benefits attached thereto as has been done in respect of the contingent paid workers of District Anantnag, who were regularized in service in terms of the Order no.1037 of 1992 dated 7.1.1992.
The Division Bench of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Puneet Gupta while dismissing the belated appeals of Government said the Government cannot, as a matter of rule, take offense under the plea that it has to be treated on a different pedestal in the matter of the extension of time for filing the appeal or application.
“ No doubt, some latitude may be warranted to be given to the Government promoting social justice, but it cannot escape the liability of satisfying the Court that the appeal was filed with due diligence and there has been a reckless delay of 691 days in filing the appeal and no satisfactory explanation has come forward on that count except for routine words and phrases”, the DB recorded.
Court further added that a liberal approach has to be adopted in the matter of condonation of delay when there is no gross negligence or deliberate inaction or lack of bona-fides on the part of the Government/ State, but, in the instant case, court reiterated that the authorities took their own time to formulate an opinion that the appeal has to be filed.
Court after perusal of the application filed by the Government said it nowhere stated as to when and where the basic Judgment passed in 2018 was perused and how much time was taken by the Department of Law to accord sanction for filing the appeal.
“ It was incumbent for the authorities to do so to bring home the argument that the Government/ State did not adopt dilatory tactics and that every action taken had the semblance of fairness attached to it”, the DB recorded.
Court said the authorities have been negligent in prosecuting their claim within time and the explanation offered for the delay in filing the appeal is neither plausible nor reasonable.
The application court added, appears to have been drafted recklessly without giving a proper account of the dates and details of the grounds agitated in it and recourse has been had to the leisure and pleasure in moving the application and, to cap it all, the authorities have not knocked the doors of the Court with clean hands and the fair play has become a casualty at the hands of the authorities.
“ This appears to have been done only to scuttle the Judgment passed by the Single Judge. We are of the considered opinion that the authorities have failed to explain the delay of 691 days in filing the appeal.
That being so, the application for Condonation of Delay, in filing the appeal, is rejected and, as a corollary thereto, the Letters Patent Appeal shall also stand dismissed as barred by time”, the DB concluded.
