TN loses "worthless" battle

Against this, the government preferred the present appeal in 1983. Since this appeal was one among several batches of appeals, the value was not taken into account, it contended.

Dismissing the appeal, Justice P Sathasivam observed that he was unable to accept the contention that in a batch of cases, each and every award has to be challenged in appeals irrespective of the value. It is `settled law’ that courts generally do not take trifling and immaterial matters into account, except under peculiar circumstances. In other words, where the damage or compensation or claim is small and the question too inconsiderable to be tried, the courts have frequently refused to entertain the same. “I do not find any merit in the appeal and it is liable to be dismissed”, the judge said.

The judge observed that in the last two decades, the pendency of cases in courts clearly showed that the government was the largest litigant. Even in contested matters, if the government is one of the parties, the rule is for settlement. When such was the position, the government had filed the present appeal for a paltry sum of Rs 13.59 and it was kept pending since 1983. For this claim, the land owners were forced to approach this court to contest the case by spending a considerable amount.

Further, the judge said, the registry of this court has also spent some amount for preparation of pleadings and documents of both the parties. Irrespective of the result, the State has to pay Rs 500 per case to the government advocate, which is a waste of public money.