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 REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION No.29275 of 2010 (Arising out of C.C. No.14940 of 2010)

STATE OF JHARKHAND & ORS.                    Petitioner(s)

                VERSUS

KRISHNA PRADHAN & ORS.                        Respondent(s)

O R D E R

Issue notice.

In  this  case,  second  appeal  before  the  High  

Court was filed after 501 days.  In this Court also  

the petition has been filed after delay of more than  

one year.

It appears that cases are coming up before this  

Court, and probably before the High Courts also, where  

appeals or writ petitions are filed after inordinate  

delay and an explanation is sought to be given in the  

application  for  condonation  of  delay  in  such  cases  

filed by the government or the State Authorities that  

the file was moved from one desk to another or the  

approval was sought from the higher authority which  

took considerable time.   We feel that the beneficiary  

of  the  judgment  may  be  hand  in  glove  with  the  

officials in the Government Department who deal with

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the files, and files are suppressed for a long period,  

and then the appeal before the High Court or Supreme  

Court is filed after a long delay to get the appeal  

dismissed on the ground of delay.  Huge amounts of  

public money or public property may be involved and  

the  Government  will  be  the  loser  on  the  technical  

point of limitation in such cases.   This racket has  

been going on for a long time not only before the  

Supreme Court but also before the High Courts.  Now  

the time has come  that this racket should come to an  

end and the officials responsible for this be given  

severe punishment.   

The Chief Secretary for the State of Jharkhand  

will file an affidavit explaining what action has been  

taken  against  the  officials  causing  the  delay.  In  

case, no action has been taken, reasons for the same  

be mentioned.

This practice is often adopted by officials of  

various  State  Governments  and  has  become  a  regular  

feature. The explanation usually given for the delay  

is the red tape in government offices.

It  is  high  time  that  this  mal-practice  be  

severely  rooted  out  and  an  effectual  mechanism  be  

adopted all over the country so that such delays do

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not occur in future.   

Let a copy of this order be sent to the learned  

Solicitor General of India, who is requested to assist  

us as amicus curiae.   

Copies  shall  also  be  sent  to  the  Chief  

Secretaries of all the States so that effective action  

may be taken in this regard. Issue notice to all Chief  

Secretaries of States/Union Territories in India.

Mr.  Nagendra  Rai,  Sr.  Advocate  appears  on  

behalf of respondent Nos. 1 to 3.  He prays for and is  

granted four weeks' time to file counter affidavit.  

List on 8.11.2010.

                       ..................J.     (Markandey Katju)

  ..................J.     (T.S. Thakur)

New Delhi. Dated 1st October, 2010