The Kerala High Court on Friday pulled up the State government for presenting its affidavits in court on the date of hearing instead of filing them ahead of the hearing [Bachpan Bachao Andolan v. State of Kerala]..Over the past few months, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji has repeatedly noted that the State government, despite being given sufficient time to file affidavits or statements, has failed to file them ahead of the hearing.The Bench noted that it was presented with another such counter affidavit today, even though the State had been given over two weeks to file it. Chief Justice Jamdar remarked that this is especially taxing when the material presented to the Court is lengthy and requires close reading. The Court, therefore, passed an order warning the State that it would impose costs on it if it continues such practices."We put the State to notice. If this practice continues, the Court may impose costs on the State recoverable from the concerned officer," the order stated. .The Court passed the order on two petitions, one initiated suo motu and one filed by NGO, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, pursuant to the 2018 judgment of the Supreme Court in Sampurna Behura v. Union of India and Ors. in which the top court had issued directions to monitor the implementation of laws beneficial to children. The matter has been taken up by the High Court intermittently since 2018. When the matter was taken up on May 30, Bachpan Bachao Andolan raised several issues which, according to them, were still pending consideration. These included issues related to the inspection of Child Care Institutions, constitution and sitting of Juvenile Justice Boards in various districts, framing of amended Juvenile Justice Model Rules, among others. The Court had directed the State to file its response on record by way of an affidavit on or before the next date of hearing, which was today.However, instead of filing its affidavit before the Court, the State merely presented it to the Bench when the matter was called for hearing. This drew the ire of the Court, which cautioned the State against the practice and posted the matter for hearing on June 19. It directed the State to ensure that the affidavit is filed at the earliest and to hand it over to the other parties in the matter.
