The High Court of Kerala has imposed an exemplary cost of Rs 2 lakh on the Kerala Govt for challenging a single judge order only after receiving a contempt notice for not finally implementing the directions contained in it.
A bench of Justice Amit Rawal & Justice 89Easwaran S pulled up the government, saying the appeal was “wholly atrocious, fallacious, repugnant & aberrative”.
“We are unable to fathom as to how & in what manner, a fresh course of action had accrued for challenging the order of the single judge when already all steps have been taken in compliance of the same judgment.
“Such practice should not be adopted at the end of the department & as well as the legal department of the state as it unnecessarily delays the adjudication of the controversy pending before the competent authority,” the bench said.
The matter pertains to the implementation of the Challenge Fund Scheme, under which the government extends the benefit of compensation to private schools to the extent of 50 per cent of cost of construction incurred by them.
The condition stipulated in the scheme is that the schools that initiated the construction or renovation after March 1, 2018 would be eligible for the benefit.
In the case before the high court, an Ernakulam-based school had claimed that it was entitled to benefit under the scheme as its construction was completed & the occupancy certificate was received in March 2019.
While the government deposited Rs 50 lakh in the government treasury towards its share of the construction cost, the amount was not disbursed to the school on the ground that the work had commenced before March 1, 2018.
The single judge bench of the high court on March 13, 2024 directed the government to take a decision with regard to the construction cost after March 1, 2018 after hearing all affected parties.
Appearing for the school, senior advocate Jaju Babu told the court that the institution was heard at length on April 19 by three officers appointed by the finance secretary & the matter was kept reserved.
It was only after the school filed a contempt plea, & notice of it was received by the government, did the state authorities file an appeal against the single judge’s order, the advocate said.
Dismissing the appeal, the court imposed a cost of Rs 2 lakh on the government, directing it to pay the amount to the school & then realise it from the legal officers who had taken a decision to file the writ appeal.
“It is settled law that if the party does not come to the court with clean hands, (the plea) can be thrown out at any stage of the trial with exemplary cost,” the bench said.