SC slams Gujarat for ‘lethargy’ in filing plea, slaps 25k penalty

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has imposed a fine of Rs25,000 on Gujarat for wasting judicial time, irked over the "lethargy and incompetence" of the state government in filing a petition before it af ter a delay of over a year. A bench, headed by Justice

Sanjay Kishan Kaul, pulled up the state for approaching the SC in a "casual manner" and dismissed the plea on the ground of delay.

It observed such kind of "certificate cases" are filed with the only objective to obtain a quietus from the top court on the

ground that nothing could be done because the highest court had dismissed the appeal. The plea was filed in SC by the state government after a delay of 427 days against an order of the Gujarat High Court passed in March 2019 in a case.