The Chhattisgarh High Court (Bilaspur Bench) strongly stated that a bland reason that ‘the Law & Legislative Affairs Department, Government of Chhattisgarh, had forwarded a proposal to the Office of the Advocate General for initiating an appeal’, cannot be counted as a justifiable cause, or a cogent explanation, to condone the delay attributable to the State in filing its appeal.
Asserting that no legitimising effect can be given to a callous attitude of State authorities or their instrumentalities, the Court refused to condone the extraordinary delay of 107 days and dismissed the appeal on grounds of delay & laches, pointing out that the State has miserably failed to demonstrate sufficient cause.
The Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Bibhu Datta Guru observed that the Government departments are under a special obligation to discharge their duties with due diligence and commitment. Further, condonation of delay is an exception, not the rule, and cannot be claimed as a matter of right or anticipated privilege by Government entities.
The Bench emphasised that the law casts its protection equally upon all litigants and cannot be distorted to confer undue advantage upon a select few, and referred to a decision of the Supreme Court in the matter of Shivamma (dead) by LRS vs. Karnataka Housing Board [2025 INSC 1104], where it was categorically held that the Constitutional Courts should not become surrogates for State laxity and lethargy, and they ought to be cognizant of the apathy and pangs of a private litigant.
Briefly, the Single Judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court passed an order on April 23, 2025, and the State Government took an unexpectedly long time to initiate proceedings to file an appeal against the said order before the Division Bench. In response to the said inordinate delay, the State argued that only on September 11, 2025, the Department of Law & Legislative Affairs Department, had granted sanction for filing the said writ appeal, and thereafter, on September 12, 2025, the Joint Director, Social Welfare, Bilaspur, who was as Officer-in-Charge of the case, initiated the process.
Appearances:
Deputy A.G. Shashank Thakur, for the Appellant
Advocate Sandeep Dubey, for the Respondent
