HC slams Yogi government for non-cooperation with courts

Allahabad: Lambasting the Uttar Pradesh government for non-cooperation with courts, the Allahabad High Court on Saturday summoned the Principal Secretary Law Umesh Kumar on October 24 seeking explanation over the same.

"If the state government is not able to appoint deserving lawyers as the State Law Officers, should the court start unilateral settlement of all the cases citing non-cooperation from the government?" asked the HC bench comprising Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Justice Ajit Kumar, while hearing a petition.

The court also sought clarification from the ruling body on 'why it should not impose a heavy penalty on the Yogi government for unnecessarily wasting the time of the court by not putting the government's stand'.

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The HC also went harsh on the government for two adjournments of the court proceedings for non-submission of the government lawyer.

"The court hearing has been postponed twice as the government lawyer was unable to submit the answer on either dates, September 8 and September 19. He had said that the answer was being prepared, but again did not submit it. We are summoning the concerned bureaucrat as the lawyer has lied before the bench," the court said in its statement.

The court also asserted that in case of unavailability of competent lawyers, the court will not postpone the hearing but would start unilateral settlement of the cases.