MP; Lawyer Asked to Undertake Community Service at Blind Home for Missing Court Proceedings
The court held that the litigant should not be made to suffer for the fault of his counsel and restored the long-pending petition to its original number.
Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh high court has found a noble way to snub a lawyer in Gwalior in the state for repeatedly giving a miss to the hearings in a case of his client by asking him to undertake community service at a blind home.
The high court has directed the lawyer to spend one hour with the visually impaired and underprivileged children at Madhav Blind Home in Gwalior and distribute them food items worth Rs 10,000.
This is not ‘punitive in nature’ but a gesture at sensitization, the court has observed.
The court’s order comes in response to a petition filed by one Sushil Verma, an employee of Madhya Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation, seeking restoration of his plea filed earlier over a pending promotion claim.
His petition was rejected twice in July and August this year due to lack of prosecution after his counsel failed to appear on multiple dates.
He contended that his petition had been dismissed on technical ground because his lawyer could not attend the proceedings as he was busy in another court.
The court held that the litigant should not be made to suffer for the fault of his counsel and restored the long-pending petition to its original number.
The court asked the lawyer to comply with its community service order within 15 days.
It noted that such gestures should evolve into a broader concept of social audit which would not only uplift the inmates but also check mismanagement of such institutions.
