'Frivolous Litigation By State': Supreme Court Dismisses Uttarakhand Govt's SLP Against Reduction Of Sentence To Accused Without Opposing It Before HC

Frivolous litigation by the State, the Supreme Court remarked while dismissing a special leave petition filed by the State of Uttarakhand.

The State had filed an SLP against a High Court order in a criminal appeal that reduced the sentence pf an accused in relation to the offence under Sections 307/34 IPC to rigorous imprisonment of four years and five months instead of seven years and also reduced the fine amount.

Perusing the High Court order, the bench noticed that the State had not opposed such a prayer for reduction of sentence before the High Court.

"It is rather disturbing to note that in such a matter, where the State's counsel before the High Court did not even oppose the prayer for reduction of sentence and the High Court made slight modification in the sentence considering the facts and circumstances of the case in totality, the State has chosen to approach this Court seeking special leave to appeal without any justification. The present petition could only be said to be a frivolous litigation by the State.", the bench observed.

The court also issued a warning any other attempt of frivolous litigation may be visited with penalization of the officers responsible for sanctioning.

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