High Court slaps cost for delayed filing of state government appeal

Patna: The Patna high court on Tuesday slapped a cost of Rs5,000 on the office of district Magistrate (DM) of Patna for “insensitive approach” of its officers in dealing with legal matters that resulted in a delayed filing of govt appeal against acquittal of murder accused.The court also directed the Patna DM to recover the cost amount from erring officials and deposit the same in the office of Patna high court legal services committee within a month.A division bench comprising Justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Praveen Kumar, while hearing a criminal appeal filed by the state govt, passed this order on Tuesday.On Dec 23, 2024, a trial court of Additional Session Judge-XIV, Patna delivered a judgment acquitting three persons—Lal Bihari Prasad, Ashok Singh and Sanjay Singh— from the charges of murder, attempt to murder and illegal use of arms, in connection with an FIR registered in Phulwarisharif police station (case number 412 /2002).The two judges found that govt appeal was filed with a delay of 40 days attributed to lethargy displayed in obtaining certified copy of acquitting verdict. Despite prompt actions of the state’s law department in furnishing legal opinion, and drafting the appeal, it took 35 days for the officer concerned in filing the same, showing no plausible reason for such delay.Expressing displeasure over such an approach, the two judges remarked, “It seems that the govt officers dealing with the matter are not sensitised to deal with the legal matters promptly which is a matter of concern for this court.”They also ordered all district courts to mention uploading dates in their judgments/orders to ensure transparency in pronouncement of lower courts decisions.