In a scathing order handed by Justice Atul Sreedharan, the court docket dismissed the plea, imposed prices, and noticed that the division’s “repeated frivolous litigation” had saved the decree-holder hanging for 20 years and amounted to “abuse of process”.

The case dates again to 2001, when Iqbal Ahmad Baqal, a authorized assistant, filed a civil go well with towards the Director of Health Services and one other for alleged breach of contract. In 2003, the court docket dominated in favour of Baqal, issuing a decree that the division did not adjust to. Instead of fulfilling its obligations, the division launched into an extended and arduous authorized battle, submitting a collection of appeals and petitions to stall the execution of the decree.

The division’s makes an attempt to delay justice have been quite a few and included submitting a time-barred first attraction, a revision petition, a writ petition, and even a second attraction filed after a staggering 13-year delay. Additionally, they filed petitions to revive the writ petition and condone the delay in its restoration, all of which have been dismissed by varied courts.

Subsequently, the respondents once more approached the Executing Court in 2018, contending that that they had already complied with the instructions outlined within the 2003 decree. The Executing Court had instructed one of many judgment debtors to seem on May 30, 2018, to point out trigger, a directive that went unheeded. Instead of complying, the petitioners selected to file the current petition, alleging that the Executing Court’s order was legally flawed.

Justice Sreedharan, in his order, highlighted the petitioners’ historical past of neglect and delay in pursuing their case. The court docket famous that regardless of ample alternatives to current their case earlier than the Executing Court, the petitioner Department opted for additional delay by submitting the present petition, which has been pending for 5 years.

The bench emphasised that the division had ample alternatives to clarify its compliance with the decree earlier than the executing court docket however selected to pursue frivolous litigation as a substitute. Recognizing the blatant disregard for the court docket’s orders and the manipulation of the system, the court docket imposed a Rs. 2,00,000/- tremendous on the petitioners, payable to the decree-holder inside 30 days. Additionally, the court docket granted the Union Territory the freedom to get better the fee from the Director of Health Services, Kashmir.

Upon dismissing the plea, the matter was listed on 11.03.2024 to safe compliance.

Case Title: Director Health Services and Another Vs. Iqbal Ahmad Baqal

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