Strict limitation for government litigation under the NDPS Act leads to dismissal of a belated Special Leave Petition and costs.

Section 37 of the NDPS Act was applied strictly to a Special Leave Petition filed after a 405-day delay, and the Court found the explanation based on governmental file-shuffling and internal processing to be unsatisfactory. Relying on Office of the Chief Post Master General v. Living Media India Ltd., it held that delay caused by administrative lethargy and gross negligence is not a sufficient ground for condonation, and the petition was dismissed as time-barred. To discourage repeated belated filings and misuse of judicial time, the Court also imposed costs of Rs. 25,000, recoverable from the concerned officers and payable to the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Welfare Fund, and directed remedial action by the departmental head with warning of consequences for non-compliance.

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Outcome: Special leave petition dismissed on the ground of delay. Costs of Rs.25,000 imposed on the petitioner, recoverable from the officers concerned, and the pending application was disposed of.

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