State Is Not A Privileged Litigant: MP High Court Refuses To Condone 213-Day Delay In Filing Appeal

The Madhya Pradesh High Court at Gwalior has dismissed a writ appeal filed by the State as time-barred, refusing to condone a delay of 213 days and making it clear that “the State cannot be treated as a privileged litigant.”

A division bench of Justice G. S. Ahluwalia and Justice Anuradha Shukla passed the order on October 13, 2026, in Writ Appeal No. 3733 of 2026, titled State of Madhya Pradesh v. Rakesh Singh Jadon and Others. The appeal was filed under Section 2(1) of the M.P. Uchcha Nyayalaya (Khand Nyayapeeth Ko Appeal) Adhiniyam, 2005, against a Single Judge’s order dated July 8, 2025, in Writ Petition No. 11309 of 2019.

Along with the appeal, the State moved an application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act seeking condonation of delay. Its explanation was a long trail of paperwork inside the government machinery.

According to the application, after an order dated December 9, 2025, the Inspector General of Police, Gwalior Zone, directed the Superintendent of Police on January 1, 2026, to take appropriate action. The file then moved between police offices, and on January 9, 2026, a letter was sent to the office of the Additional Advocate General seeking legal opinion, which was obtained on February 13, 2026.

A proposal to file the appeal went to the Assistant Inspector General of Police (Law Department) at Police Headquarters, Bhopal, on March 9, 2026, and was forwarded to the Home Department on April 27. Reminders followed on May 5 and June 16. Permission was granted on August 3, but it was communicated to the Superintendent of Police only on August 20. Documents reached the Additional Advocate General’s office on September 7, the employee’s record was handed to the Government Advocate on September 29, and the appeal was finally filed on October 8, 2026.

Appearing for the State, Government Advocate Sohit Mishra argued that the delay occurred because of “procedural and administrative formalities” and that, since the State has to work through various authorities, the plea deserved a sympathetic view.

The bench was not persuaded. It acknowledged that time was consumed in processing the matter and obtaining legal opinion and permission, but observed that “no satisfactory explanation has been furnished as to why the matter was not processed with due promptitude and why the appeal could not be filed within the prescribed period of limitation.”

To support its view, the court relied on two Supreme Court rulings. In State of M.P. v. Ramkumar Choudhary, decided on November 29, 2024, the top court had criticised the “callous and lackadaisical attitude” of officials in the State machinery and directed States to streamline the handling of legal issues, fix responsibility on the officers concerned and penalise those responsible for delay.

The bench also referred to State of Odisha and Others v. Managing Committee of Namatara Girls High School. That ruling traced the law from Collector, Land Acquisition, Anantnag v. Mst. Katiji and G. Ramegowda v. Land Acquisition Officer, which favoured a liberal approach towards government delay, to the later observation in Commissioner of Wealth Tax v. Amateur Riders Club that there is a point beyond which even courts cannot help a litigant, even if that litigant is the Government.

Applying these principles, the High Court said, “Mere processing of the matter through various authorities and obtaining legal opinion and permission cannot, by itself, constitute sufficient cause for condonation of delay.” It added that no sufficient reasons had been assigned in the application.

Holding that no sufficient cause had been shown, the bench rejected I.A. No. 14624 of 2026. “Consequently, the writ appeal is also dismissed as barred by limitation,” the order said.

The ruling underlines that movement of files across departments, without a specific account of why each step took so long, will not by itself earn the State any relief from the law of limitation, however many offices are involved.

Case Title: State of Madhya Pradesh vs. Rakesh Singh Jadon and Others

Judgment Date: October 13, 2026

Bench: Justice G. S. Ahluwalia and Justice Anuradha Shukla