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While dismissing an application filed by the State of Uttar Pradesh seeking condonation of delay in filing an SLP, the Supreme Court has imposed a cost of 25,000/- on it for filing the same without providing any explanation for such delay.

Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice MM Sundresh thus remarked:

“One more petition with extraordinary delay with no explanation on the part of the State of Uttar Pradesh and despite the legal view expressed by this Court, the same is still pressed! The petitioner must thus, take the consequences.”

The Bench noted that the impugned order was passed in October 2019 and the opinion of the District counsel qua filing of the instant SLP was received on January 4, 2020.

In light of such timeline, the Bench found that it took more than six and a half months for the Law Department to accord permission on July 27, 2020.

The Court further recorded that the instant SLP was then filed on December 12, 2020.

It was also noticed that ‘once again the judgments being cited in the application for condonation of delay are of the vintage when the technology was not available of the kind which is now utilized by Departments.’ With this view, the Bench went on to say:

“We have repeatedly said that in order to succeed on limitation, it must be brought within the four corners of the view expressed in the judgment of this Court in Office of the Chief Post Master General & Ors. v. Living Media India Ltd. & Anr. – (2012) 3 SCC 563.”

The Court found the instant matter to be one more “certificate case” wherein the state wished to complete a mere formality of obtaining dismissal from this Court and wasting judicial time and that too in respect of a land dispute where the original UP Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 stands repealed. It thus ordered as under:

“The same consequence thus, must follow and the petition is dismissed as time barred with the cost of Rs.25,000/- to be deposited with the Supreme Court Advocates On Record Welfare Fund within four weeks along with a certificate of recovery of costs recovering it from the officer(s) responsible for the inordinate delay in filing the SLP.”

Cause Title: The State Of Uttar Pradesh & Ors. v. Mohd. Afsar Ali @ Pappu & Ors.

Access Copy of Order Here