The Supreme Court has taken strong exception to the State of Madhya Pradesh’s repeated delays in filing Special Leave Petitions (SLPs), noting that many have been filed with delays of 300 to 400 days.

The Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan, while hearing an SLP filed by the State with a delay of 177 days, raised concerns about the decision-making process behind challenging High Court orders before the Supreme Court.

The Court specifically questioned who was responsible for deciding which cases warranted appeal.

"We admire the courage with which the State of Madhya Pradesh has been filing Special Leave Petitions in this Court over a period of time with delay of 300/400 days. The above is not the problem. The matter of concern is as to who is taking the decision to challenge a particular order passed by the High Court before the Supreme Court," the Court said.

AAG Nachiketa Joshi, along with DAG Bhupendra Pratap Singh, appeared for the State of Madhya Pradesh.

Facts of the Case

In the present case, the state had initially filed a Second Appeal under Section 100 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, before the High Court with a delay of 656 days. The High Court refused to condone the delay due to the absence of sufficient justification. Instead of accepting the decision, the State chose to challenge it before the Supreme Court, further compounding the delay.

Court's Reasoning

"In the present case, the State preferred a Second Appeal under Section 100 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 before the High Court with delay of 656 days. The State was not able to assign any sufficient cause for this gross delay and, accordingly, the High Court rejected the plea to condone the delay. It is this order which has now been made a subject matter of challenge before this Court by filing the present Special Leave Petition and that too with delay of 177 days," the Court noted.

Although the Court could have dismissed the petition outright on the grounds of delay, it chose to probe the issue further. The Bench said, "We could have dismissed this petition solely on the ground of delay but we do not intend to do this as we have something else in our mind."

The Bench directed the Law Secretary of Madhya Pradesh to personally appear before it on February 14, 2025, along with original files containing details of the decision-making process that led to the filing of the present appeal.

"We would like to know who is that authority who took the decision that the order passed by the High Court is worth challenging before this Court," the Court remarked. The matter has been listed for further hearing on February 14, 2025.

Cause Title: The State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors. v. Gokulchand & Anr. [Diary No(s). 61179/2024]

Appearance:-

Petitioner: AAG Nachiketa Joshi, DAG Bhupendra Pratap Singh, Advocates Sarad Kumar Singhania (AOR), Rashmi Singhania

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