The petitioners are the Secretary and the Panchayat Committee of Vengola Grama Panchayat. They have filed this writ petition challenging Exts.P6 to P8 orders of the Tribunal for Local Self Government Institutions, Thiruvananthapuram. The orders are dated 30.04.2014. This writ petition is filed only on 19.12.2014. The petitioners had received notice in the said cases from the Tribunal. However, they remained ex-parte. What is stated in paragraph 4 of the writ petition reads as follows :
“Eventhough the notice was received from the Tribunal intimating the posting date, effective appearance could not be made on behalf of panchayath before the Tribunal and the Tribunal passed Ex-parte order dated 30/04/2014 in all the above appeals.”
Absolutely no reasons are stated for their omission to appear and contest the matter before the Tribunal. It is worth noticing that, they had not bothered even to challenge the impugned orders, within a reasonable time. The present writ petition is filed after eight months of the said order. Such careless approach on the part of the authorities to proceedings before Courts and Tribunals cannot be countenanced. I do not find any justification for entertaining the challenge against Exts.P6 to P8, at this length of time.
For the above reasons, this writ petition is dismissed.
Sd/-
K.SURENDRA MOHAN, JUDGE.
AV