Delay as stratagem — The Supreme Court makes a serious attempt to wake up slumbering babus who do not appeal in lost cases

18. Delay as stratagem — The Supreme Court makes
a serious attempt to wake up slumbering babus who do not appeal in lost cases

When the revenue departments sleep over cases they
had lost in the courts and do not appeal for long, it is difficult to tell
whether it is just red tape or something else. Their lethargy causes losses to
the government and gains to tax dodgers.

The new chief justice of India (CJI) started his
stint in the Supreme Court a few months ago with a strict code for the indolent
babus. Some appeals are filed after a delay of a thousand and one nights. He has
ordered investigation into the delays in some gross cases. His campaign is
expected to nudge bureaucrats to move appeals faster. On the part of the
assessees, the CJI has insisted on them paying a substantial part of the tax
demand before hearing their late appeals.

The judges stated : “We feel that the beneficiary
of the judgment may be hand-in-glove with the officials in the government
department who deal with the files, and files are suppressed for a long period,
and then the appeal before the High Court or the 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. Now the time has come that this racket is ended and
the officials responsible given severe punishment.”

Last year, the Court asked the Karnataka Government
to pay INR10,00,000 for filing an appeal after a delay of 14 years (State of
Karnataka v. Moideen Kunhi). It also asked the government to take action against
“every person responsible for the alleged fraud and delay in pursuing legal
remedies”.

In another case, State of Delhi v. Ahmed Jaan, the
court passed a similar order. The Courts go by the maxim : “Equity aids the
vigilant, not those who slumber on their rights.” Therefore, the Limitation Act
specifies the delays permissible in filing different types of petitions. The
Companies Act and most other legislation have similar clauses setting time
limits to press claims. Stale claims do not impress the judiciary.