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Delays in filing replies by govt: U.P. chief secy appears before HC
Mishra said that nodal officers in every department are appointed to ensure that court orders are complied with within time, and a system will be developed to fix accountability with the help of technology in cases of delay in compliance.
Chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra appeared in the high court, on Thursday, in the matter of delay in filing replies by departments of the state government in cases pending before the court and also on the issue of shortage of staff in the high court and in the Advocate General’s office.
Mishra said that nodal officers in every department are appointed to ensure that court orders are complied with within time, and a system will be developed to fix accountability with the help of technology in cases of delay in compliance.
The chief secretary informed the court that he will hold a meeting with secretaries of all departments and law officers so that government lawyers will get the information related to a case on time and they can better represent the government in court.
The division bench of chief justice Rajesh Bindal and justice JJ Munir, was hearing a case in which the government had not filed a reply within time.
The court said that in many cases, despite repeated instructions from the court, government officials do not file replies on time, nor do they pick up the calls of government lawyers which disrupt court proceedings and valuable court time is lost.
The chief secretary said that due to the fire in the Advocate General’s office, many records were destroyed, due to which the government files are not available. He requested the court to allow the state government to make a new record by copying the same from the record of the high court.
The court has given permission to prepare new files from the records of the High Court during winter vacation.
