The Punjab and Haryana High Court slapped a penalty of Rs 25,000 on a Bhiwani resident for a “highly deplorable” conduct.
The petitioner, Sabha Chand, got a property-dispute case listed before a division bench claiming it to be of a very urgent nature this year.
After the HC enlisted the case for hearing, the petitioner sought adjournment instead of arguing the case.
With the petitioner evading argument and seeking adjournment for over one-and-a-half months, the High Court decided to penalise the offender.
The case pertains to a plot of land in Bhiwani, Haryana.
The petitioner, Sabha Chand claimed that the land belonged to his ancestors and had been wrongly transferred in the name of the Gram Panchayat.
He moved the Court seeking permission for correcting the revenue records and thereby taking possession of the land. With the case pending for long, Sabha Chand filed an application in the HC during the summer break for enlisting the case urgently for interim relief.
The Court listed the case for hearing on the same day. When the case came up for hearing, the counsel for the petitioner, however, sought adjournment, as instructed to him by Chand.
On the following day—-July 24—- the petitioner again sought adjournment and did not argue the case. It was brought to the notice of the High Court by the government counsel that the land in question was in dispute.
Expressing deep regret and shock over the conduct of the petitioner, the High Court observed:
“All that can be done is to express our shock and anguish at the tactics adopted by the petitioner to get a favourable order without reference to controversy”.
Terming the conduct of the petitioner as “highly deplorable” and ensuring that the jurisdiction of the Court is not abused in the future, the High Court slapped a penalty of Rs 25,000 on Sabha Chand.