‘You didn’t bother to come, what is this?’, SC slaps Centre’s lawyer

The Supreme Court on Thursday (December 12, 2024) expressed displeasure over the repeated absence of Central lawyers in many cases and said that the court takes no pleasure in summoning government officials. On December 11, a bench of Justices Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai and KV Vishwanathan, expressing concern over the negligent attitude in the matter related to the admission of a medical candidate in the disabled category, had ordered the presence of the Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services of the Centre.

The bench said, ‘The court does not take pleasure in summoning officials to the court. However, when the defendant does not appear despite being duly served notice, we are forced to do so. On Thursday, officials and the Centre’s counsel appeared before Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee’s bench.

Justice Gavai said, ‘What is this? Notices were issued and you did not bother to appear. This is not happening for the first time. On many occasions no one from the Union of India is present here. The bench said that it had directed the officer to remain present because despite due orders being given, no lawyer was present on behalf of the authority during the hearing on December 11.

The Supreme Court said that it waited till 4 pm for the appearance of the lawyers but when no one from the Center appeared, it passed the order. The bench said in its order, ‘When the matter pertains to persons with disabilities, we expect a reply from you.’ The bench said, ‘There are many lawyers in your panel. Why don’t you hand over the work of some courts to some lawyers on the panel so that at least when we need someone’s help, someone is there immediately.

Considering the petition of the candidate belonging to the disabled category, the bench directed to enroll him in a government medical college of Rajasthan. On December 11, the bench had directed the officer to appear before it at 10.30 am on Thursday.

The bench was hearing a petition challenging the September 23 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in which the petition of a candidate regarding admission to the MBBS course for the academic session 2024-25 was rejected.

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