The Court remarked that it “appreciates the audacity” with which the State has been submitting appeals after delays of several hundred days.
The Supreme Court summoned the Law Secretary of the Madhya Pradesh government last week to determine who is authorizing the filing of appeals after delays spanning several hundred days. [State of Madhya Pradesh vs Gokulchand]
A Bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan issued the directive while considering an appeal by the State, which was filed 177 days late, challenging a High Court order that had denied condonation of a 656-day delay.
Before summoning the Law Secretary, the Supreme Court remarked that it “admires the courage” with which the State of Madhya Pradesh has repeatedly filed Special Leave Petitions before it, despite delays of 300 to 400 days.
The Court observed that the State had failed to present any valid reason for this significant delay before the High Court, which consequently refused to condone it.
While acknowledging that the simplest course of action would have been to dismiss the petition solely on the grounds of delay, the Bench chose otherwise, stating:
“… but we do not intend to do this as we have something else in mind. We direct the Law Secretary of the State of Madhya Pradesh to appear before us on 14-2-2025, along with the original files containing the decision to challenge the High Court’s order refusing to condone the 656-day delay. We seek to identify the authority responsible for determining that the High Court’s order was worth contesting before this Court.”
