LI Network
Published on: February 17, 2024 at 12:50 IST
The Supreme Court, imposed a hefty penalty of Rs 10,00,000 (Ten Lakhs only) on the State of Rajasthan for subjecting a poor litigant to prolonged harassment.
The litigant had to resort to repeated legal battles to obtain the benefits awarded by the Labour Court.
The Bench, consisting of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, labeled the State’s plea as frivolous litigation and expressed dissatisfaction with the state’s behavior, forcing the impoverished litigant to engage in successive legal proceedings to secure the awarded benefits.
The respondent, a laborer, had been reinstated by the Labour Court in 2001, but the benefits of the award were not extended to him.
The Labour Court’s decision was upheld by both the Single Bench and the Division Bench of the High Court. Despite these affirmations, the State of Rajasthan persisted in challenging the High Court’s orders directing the implementation of the award.
The Supreme Court, in its observation, noted the unfortunate circumstance where the respondent, a part-time laborer, had been embroiled in litigation for the past 22 years to receive the rightful benefits from the Labour Court’s 2001 decision.
“The State of Rajasthan has been harassing the poor litigant, who was extended benefits by the Labour Court in the year 2001. For the last 22 years, he has been litigating. This is totally a frivolous petition,” remarked the Supreme Court.
As a consequence, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition while imposing a significant cost of Rs 10,00,000 on the State.
The state is instructed to pay this amount to the respondent within four weeks and provide proof of payment to the Court within six weeks.