State Govt Officers Can't Be Permitted To File Frivolous Petitions Merely Because They Don’t Pay For Litigation From Their Own Pockets: SC Imposes Cost
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, strongly criticized the Special Land Acquisition Officer in matter, for filing a frivolous petition after the award passed by the Reference Court had attained finality before the Court. The bench reprimanded the officer for harassing the landowners further who already lost their land. Resultantly, the bench imposed a cost of Rupees Five Lakhs on the officer.
While deprecating the practice, a bench of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra observed, “Merely because the officers of the State Government, do not have to pay for the litigation from their own pocket, they cannot be permitted to file such frivolous petitions and harass the landowners, who have already lost their valuable land”.
AAG Avishkar Singhvi appeared for the petitioner and Senior Advocate Dhruv Mehta appeared for the respondent.
In the matter, by way of a Special leave Petition, the petitioner challenged an order dated January 6, 2023 passed by the Karnataka High Court, Circuit Bench at Dharwad.
Subsequent to the challenge to the award passed by the Reference Court, the landowners in the present case were, thereafter, required to file execution proceedings before the competent authority. Pursuant to which the Executing Court passed an order directing payment to the landowners.
On that the bench noted, “the petitioner-State did not stop at that and they further challenged that order before the High Court. The High Court by the impugned order directed the petitioner(s) to make the payment of compensation”.
Further noted that even the High Court’s order directing payment to the landowners was now challenged by way of special leave petition.
Consequentially, the bench held, “The special leave petitions are, therefore, dismissed with cost quantified at Rs.5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs Only) to be paid within four weeks from the date of this order. The cost of Rs.2,50,000/- (RupState Govt Officers Cannot Be Permitted To File Frivolous Petitions, Only Because They Don’t Pay For Litigation From Their Own Pocket: SC Imposes Costees Two Lakhs Fifty Thousand Only) shall be deposited in the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association to be used for the purpose of Library and the cost of Rs.2,50,000/- (Rupees Two Lakhs Fifty Thousand Only) shall be deposited with the Supreme Court Bar Association Advocates Welfare Fund”.
Cause Title: The Special Land Acquisition Officer v. Vithal Rao
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