Costs cannot be imposed on a litigant for counsel's lapse where...

Costs cannot be imposed on a litigant for counsel's lapse where the record shows no lack of diligence by the litigant himself. The NCLAT applied the settled principle that a party should not suffer for the slackness or dereliction of the advocate representing him and found that the failure to press an application or properly marshal documents was attributable to counsel, not the appellant. It also noted that the impugned order did not disclose any basis for quantifying the costs. The costs direction was therefore set aside, while the appellant was required to participate diligently in the remaining proceedings and the main company petition was directed to be disposed of expeditiously.

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