'Frivolous SLP' : Supreme Court Imposes Rs 1 Lakh Cost On Jharkhand, Says Govt Can Enquire Which Officer 'Ill-Advised' Filing

The Supreme Court today imposed an exemplary cost of 1 lac on the State of Jharkhand for filing a frivolous special leave petition and granted the State liberty to initiate an inquiry against the officer responsible for advising the filing of an "ill-advised" SLP to recover the costs.

A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V Viswanathan recalled that it has repeatedly insisted against the filing of frivolous SLPs by the State Governments in the last six months but the issue continues to persist.

Justice Gavai said: "Inspite of warning, counsels for various state governments file such frivolous SLP. We see no improvement in the attitude of the State Govs. We dismiss the present SLP with costs of 1 lac. 50k SCBA [Supreme Court Bar Association], 50K to AoR A[Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association]."

He added: "State Government at liberty to conduct inquiry as to which officer was responsible for advising such ill-advised SLP."

Reportedly, in this case, the petitioner served at the Latehar Primary Health Centre and was transferred to join the office of Touring Veterinary Officer at Garhwa. However, since he was not relieved from his office, he was not able to join which led to his suspension and later dismissal from service. He approached the High Court seeking remedy against dismissal. It was argued that the order of dismissal was not tenable in law as no reason was assigned for his dismissal. However, the State refuted saying that the petitioner was found guilty in 12 out of 14 charges levelled against him.

The Jharkhand High Court had found that the order of dismissal was non-speaking and that the same was passed by the appellate authority. This deprived the petitioner's right to prefer an appeal. Quashing the dismissal order, the Court found that the petitioner is entitled to pensionary benefits. The reinstatement did not arise because he was already superannuated. Against this, the Jharkhand Government preferred an appeal.

Justice Gavai chastened the State Government, saying: "We have been telling this for last 6 months...1989 charge[referring to other cases], you are giving a chargesheet in 2009? 2005 charge, you are giving chargesheet in 2009?."

While the State Counsel insisted that the costs may be waived, J Gavai remarked: "We have to take a strong stand. Every such SLP will be dismissed with costs and if no. of repetitions, 1 more zero will be added."

Case Details: THE STATE OF JHARKHAND AND v. RABINDRA GOPE, Diary No. 42056-2024

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