SC orders for calculation, recovery of litigation cost on govt officers for frivolous appeals

The Supreme Court on Monday took a grim view of "impersonal and irresponsible" attitude of government officers in filing frivolous appeals choking its dockets as it directed for recovery of litigation expenses personally from them.

The court imposed Rs 1.50 lakh cost on officers of Haryana Urban Development Authority for wasting the time of courts at different level with a frivolous plea for recovery of additional cost of Rs 26,880 from a man allotted a plot in Hisar in 1986.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Rajesh Bindal, while dismissing the appeal, said, besides Rs 1.50 lakh, the litigation cost should be calculated and recovered from "guilty officers who opined the case to be fit for filing appeal at different levels despite being covered by judgment of this court".

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The court pointed out the additional amount sought to be recovered from the alottee was Rs 26,880, to which there was no justification.

The amount spent on litigation would be much more, it noted.

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"It is because of impersonal and irresponsible attitude of the officers, who want to put everything to court and shirk to take decisions. However, still the appellants had not only filed appeals, resulting in addition to the pendency of cases and also must have spent huge amount on litigation in the form of fee of the counsels and allied expenses," the bench said.

The court also noted a number of officers must have visited the counsel engaged either at Chandigarh, when the matter was taken up in the High Court and thereafter to this court, when the order was challenged.

"Even that amount also needs to be calculated and recovered from the guilty officers who, despite there being judgment of this court, dealing with the same issue opined the case to be fit for filing appeals," the bench said.