‘524-day delay’: Chhattisgarh High Court junks state’s challenge against acquittal of accused
Chhattisgarh high court delay, 524-day delay appeal: Justice Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal refused to condone the delay in filing the petition/appeal by the state government merely on the ground of “departmental procedures”.
The court emphasised that the state must enhance its internal processes to prevent delays. (Image generated using AI) Chhattisgarh high court delay: While noting a delay of 524 days in filing appeal, the Chhattisgarh High Court recently dismissed the state government’s appeal against the acquittal order passed in favour of an accused.
Justice Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal refused to condone the delay in filing the petition/appeal by the state government merely on the ground of “departmental procedures”.
“This Court is not inclined to condone the long delay of about one and a half years, i.e., 524 days in filing the instant petition/appeal merely on the ground of ‘departmental procedures’,” the bench said while dismissing the state’s appeal.
Emphasising that the state must enhance its internal processes to prevent delays, the court said, “Moving forward, state entities must enhance their internal processes to prevent delays, thereby safeguarding governmental interests and upholding the sanctity of the legal system.”
The court was dealing with the state government’s appeal challenging the judgment of a magisterial court in Bilaspur acquitting the accused in a case registered under Sections 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 34 (common intention) of IPC.
The counsel for the state submitted that the delay in filing the appeal was due to departmental procedure. It was further submitted that the delay was bona fide and unintentional and therefore the state sought the condonation of delay.
The court referred to the Supreme Court observations where it had pointed out that long delays in filing appeals by the State, especially those caused by departmental procedure or office delays, cannot be routinely condoned.
The court referred to the top court’s verdict in State of Madhya Pradesh v. Ramkumar Choudhary in which it had dismissed an appeal due to an excessive delay of 1,788 days.
“This judgment underscores the importance of administrative diligence and adherence to legal timelines, ensuring that the mechanisms of justice are not undermined by procedural lapses,” the high court said and refused to condone the delay. Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed.
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