2024 (11) TMI 1429
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....} 1. The present writ action assails order dated 05.11.2024 of the Industrial Tribunal, whereby for reasons detailed in the order, cost of Rs. 20,000/- was imposed on the petitioner management. It would be apposite to commence the present order by extracting the entire impugned order, which is as follows: "On the first call Sh. Anant Sharma, Ld. AR for management appeared through VC and sought a pass-over till12:00 noon. Matter was pass over for 11:15 AM. On second call, Sh. Vinod Kumar and Sh. Sparsh Jhanb both Ld. ARs for management appeared through VC and sought further pass over of the matter on the ground that their one matter is pending before Hon'ble Ms. Justice Rekha Palli, Delhi High Court. Pass over of the matter more than once in favour of the same party is not possible. Hence, further passover is declined. WW-4 and WW-5 examined-in-chief. It is 12:05 PM now. Opportunity to crossexamine WW4 and WW-5 is given to Sh. Sparsh Jhanb, Ld. AR for management appearing through VC at this stage. At this stage, adjournment sought by Sh. Sh. Sparsh Jhanb, Ld. AR for management. As per CPC, busyness of a counsel in some other Court is no ground for adjournment. To....
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.... halt. It is crucial to understand that the wheels of justice must not merely turn, they must turn without friction, without bringing it to a grinding halt due to unwarranted delay. It is for such reasons that the system itself is being ridiculed not only by the litigant public but also by the general public, thereby showing signs of constant fear of delay in the minds of public which might occur during the resolution of dispute, dissuading them from knocking at the doors of justice. All the stakeholders of the system have to be alive to this alarming situation and should thwart any attempt to pollute the stream of judicial process and same requires to be dealt with iron hands and curbed by nipping them at the bud, as otherwise the confidence of the public in the system would slowly be eroded. Be it the litigant public or Member of the Bar or anyone connected in the process of dispensation of justice, should not be allowed to dilute the judicial processes by delaying the said process by in any manner whatsoever. As held by this Court in T. Arivandandam v. T.V. Satyapal AIR (1977) 4 SCC 467 the answer to an irresponsible suit or litigation would be a vigilant judge. This analogy req....
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....and the judicial officer has to bear in mind his duties to the litigants who are before the courts and who have come for justice and for whom the courts are meant and all efforts shall be made by the courts to provide timely justice to the litigants. 12. Time has now come to change the work culture and get out of the adjournment culture so that confidence and trust put by the litigants in the justice delivery system is not shaken and Rule of Law is maintained." 6. In the case of Blue Heavens Garments vs. M/s. Kids Collections, 2010 SCC OnLine Del 1124, a coordinate bench of this Court held thus: "5. I consider that principles of natural justice do not require that a case should be adjourned time and again because defendant's counsel adopt tactics of not appearing in the case on first and second call and then sends a proxy counsel so as to get the case postponed every time. Whenever a case is fixed for examination of witnesses, witnesses come to the court at 10 a.m. It is obligatory on counsel for the parties to make themselves available for examination/cross-examination of witnesses. The courts do not exist as an employment source for legal professionals alone. The exist....
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....bunal kept in mind the interest of justice and adjourned the matter subject to costs of Rs. 20,000/-, half of which was directed to be paid to the witnesses who were being sent back without being cross examined and the remaining half was to be deposited with DLSA. 8. This is a classic case of efforts done by one of the litigants to protract the proceedings with the object of frustrating the other side so that the other side gives up. Such a conduct, especially in the industrial disputes, which involve extreme disparity of resources available to the rival litigants has to be deprecated. As mentioned above, the petitioner management, despite facing such costs, again tried to derail the proceedings by seeking amendment of issues on 08.11.2024 in the dispute pending since the year 2009. That speaks volumes of their intention. 9. As regards the plea that cost was imposed only because the counsel sought a pass-over, as mentioned above, the plea is totally contrary to record. The pass-over request was allowed by the Tribunal as the witnesses of the respondent workmen were present. 10. It has been repeatedly observed and held that adjournments and pass-overs are not a matter of right of....