HC raps postal department on Lok Adalat order on damages

The Allahabad High Court has rapped the postal department for challenging a Lok Adalat order to pay Rs 4,500 each to two complainants as damages, saying it has spent much more on this litigation.The Permanent Lok Adalat of Moradabad in September 2014 had passed the order on complaints that passports and demand drafts were lost by the department.Dismissing a plea of the senior superintendent of the Department of Post and three others, Justice Vivek Chaudhary said the petitioners have approached this court against an award of Rs 4,500 in favour of each of the respondents.

The Allahabad High Court has rapped the postal department for challenging a Lok Adalat order to pay Rs 4,500 each to two complainants as damages, saying it has spent ''much more'' on this litigation.

The Permanent Lok Adalat of Moradabad in September 2014 had passed the order on complaints that passports and demand drafts were lost by the department.

Dismissing a plea of the senior superintendent of the Department of Post and three others, Justice Vivek Chaudhary said the petitioners have approached this court against an award of Rs 4,500 in favour of each of the respondents. ''This petition has been pending before this court since 2015, seven years of litigation challenging damages worth only Rs 4,500, that too by a department of the government seems a cruel joke on the judiciary,'' the judge said on Wednesday.

The court said the department has ''definitely lost much more amount throughout this litigation than it was ordered to pay as damages to the (two) respondents''. ''What speaks volumes is that even the respondents are not contesting this petition,'' it said.

It is worth pointing out that even in a suit for recovery of less than Rs 25,000, a second appeal is barred under section 102 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, the court observed.

The counsel for the petitioners argued that according to section 6 of the Indian Post Office Act, 1898, the postal department enjoys immunity with regard to any liability arising out of any loss, misdelivery, delay or damage of any postal article in the course of its transmission.

The Permanent Lok Adalat cannot entertain an application for award against the postal department in light of the immunity of the postal department as provided under section 6 of the act. To this, the court said the Permanent Lok Adalat has the same powers and jurisdiction as civil courts to decide such cases. ''Therefore, this court does not find any strength in the contention that the Permanent Lok Adalat cannot decide cases against the postal department,'' it said.

The court said the Supreme Court has time and again warned against unnecessary and frivolous litigations taking up valuable time of courts. This court does not find any illegality in the award dated September 30, 2014, passed by the Permanent Lok Adalat. Devoid of any merit, this petition is, accordingly dismissed, it said.