Madhya Pradesh High Court Asks Lawyer To Do 1-Hour Community Service For Restoration Of Case Dismissed For Non-Appearance

Observing that litigants shouldn’t be made to suffer for the fault of the lawyer engaged by them, the Madhya Pradesh High Court allowed the restoration of a criminal case filed in 2013 subject to the lawyer performing ‘one-hour community service’ at a Mercy Home.

Justice Anand Pathak sitting at Gwalior also directed the applicant's counsel to submit an ‘experience report’ regarding the same.“…This community service of one hour would not only be satisfying to the soul but would also give a message to the differently abled children that society and its members care for them and that they are not considered as the children of the Lesser God”, the court added.

The court also found that the reasons for the absence of the applicant’s counsel in the case were ‘genuine’ and ‘bonafide’.

The counsel for the applicant submitted that she was engaged in other courts when the case got dismissed for non-appearance on the said date. Mentioning the settled proposition of law that the litigant can’t be made to suffer for the fault of the counsel, especially when the nature of the cause and the bonafide intent of the counsel in the current case is taken at face value, the court decided to restore the criminal case.

Though the court had initially made it clear that the community service was a mere suggestion that wasn’t punitive in nature, the counsel for the applicant wholeheartedly agreed to visit ‘Mercy Home’ in Gwalior ‘with some food items’ and spend an hour with ‘children/inmates/ families’. This institution is currently run by an NGO sponsored by the state government.

“Appreciating the gesture shown by counsel for the applicant with the earnest hope and belief that she would visit the aforesaid place within 15 days from today and spend one hour time with the children/ inmates/ families bring smile on their face and satisfy her soul. It is expected that any Government Advocate or other lady advocate may also accompany the counsel for this purpose. Even otherwise, some other advocate may also accompany her”, the court further remarked in the order and directed the counsel to submit a report regarding her experience at ‘Mercy Home’ as well as the current status of the institution.

Advocate Smrati Sharma appeared for the applicant and Advocate Siraj Qureshi appeared for the respondent state.

Case Title: Narendra Upadhyay v. Narendra Singh & Ors.

Case No: Misc. Criminal Case No. 43706 Of 2023

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