On 6 September 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by the government of Karnataka, imposed costs and ordered it to compensate landowners from whom it had taken away land and refused to pay up.

“Merely because the officers of the State Government do not have to pay for the litigation from their own pocket, they cannot be permitted to file such frivolous petitions and harass the landowners, who have already lost their valuable land,” said the Supreme Court order.

This order about the frivolity of government litigation is one in a series of orders by appellate courts in 2023 that made clear the nature of government litigation and the burden it places on the judicial system and the public exchequer.

In at least four cases courts expressed frustration at bureaucratic irresponsibility.

For instance, the Allahabad High Court on 13 October 2023 said “.... this Court tends to explicate the unwelcoming experience over the frivolous petitions as the roster of this Court is clogged owing to the ignorant attitudes being employed by responsible government functionaries.”

In May 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by the Haryana Urban Development Authority. “It is because of impersonal (sic) and irresponsible attitude of the officers, who want to put everything to Court and shirk to take decisions,” said the Supreme Court.

“However, still the appellants had not only filed appeals,” said the Supreme Court, “resulting in addition to the pendency of cases and also must have spent huge amount on litigation in the form of fee of the counsels and allied expenses.”

Once again, on 11 August 2023, the Supreme Court verbally observed that the government was responsible for 40% of frivolous litigation, “for a matter which involves Rs 700 per month, the state or Union must have spent Rs 7 lakh and too from the public exchequer”.




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