CUTTACK: Holding that routine bureaucratic file movement cannot justify an inordinate delay in approaching the court, the Orissa High Court has imposed Rs 1 lakh fine on the state.
A division bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice MS Raman refused to condone a 333-day delay by the state government in filing a writ appeal against an order directing regularisation of a retired nominal muster roll (NMR) employee and imposed the fine.
The bench dismissed both the application seeking condonation of delay and the writ appeal, observing that the government had failed to establish any sufficient cause for the prolonged delay instead of stipulated 30 days.
“The stand taken... does not disclose any sufficient/good cause. The state authorities have not explained with material particulars the delay in filing the writ appeal,” the bench said.
The appeal challenged a February 12, 2025 order of a single judge directing the regularisation of retired fitter mechanic Ratnakar Swain, who had served in the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation wing for more than 41 years after joining on December 16, 1980.
The judge had found that a junior employee appointed in March 1981 had been regularised and granted pensionary benefits while Swain had been denied the same.
The state argued that the delay occurred because the matter had to be examined at multiple administrative levels before being referred to the advocate general and the appeal was eventually filed on January 12, 2026.
Rejecting the explanation, the division bench said merely citing movement of files and examination of records was inadequate. “Stating simply that due to movement of files delay occasioned would not suffice. It cannot... be construed that such explanation (rather excuse) is ‘sufficient cause’/’good cause’,” the court observed.
The judges also noted that the government had failed to disclose that contempt proceedings arising out of the single judge’s order were already pending, calling it a suppression of a material fact.
They found that even after the contempt proceedings commenced, the authorities remained silent for nearly five months before filing the appeal.
Dismissing the appeal, the court directed the state to deposit Rs 1 lakh with the Odisha State Legal Services Authority within a week. The amount will be earmarked for juvenile welfare.
