Shimla, June 27,
Issuing warning to the Himachal Pradesh Excise and Taxation Department, the High Court of Himachal Pradesh has expressed strong displeasure over repeated delays in filing replies in matters involving substantial public revenue, warning that continued indiscipline may force the court to recommend removal of responsible officers.
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The Division Bench of Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Sushil Kukreja, while hearing Civil Writ Petition titled M/s HM Steels Ltd. vs. Union of India & Ors., noted that despite multiple opportunities, the department has consistently failed to respond on time.
“It has been repeatedly observed that replies from the department of State Taxes and Excise are not being filed within the time granted or even in the extended time and invariably are being filed after three months,” the court noted in its order dated June 27, 2025. “This not only causes inconvenience to the Court but hampers adjudication of cases, which involve high stakes running into several crores of rupees.”
The Bench observed that in the present case too, although notices were issued on April 24 and subsequently on May 1, May 8, and May 29, time was again being sought even on June 27 for filing a reply. Terming the conduct unacceptable, the judges stated, “It is high time that the Excise Department pulls up its socks or else this Court may have to commend to the government to change the Commissioner/Law Officer or the erring officer(s) or any or all of them, as the case may be.”
Issuing a final warning, the Court directed the department to file its reply “positively within one week,” failing which “erring officer(s)/official(s) shall personally appear before this Court.”
The matter is now listed for hearing on July 4, 2025.
This order is likely to send ripples across the administrative corridors of the Excise and Taxation Department, which has come under judicial scrutiny for repeated lapses. The High Court’s remarks indicate a growing impatience with bureaucratic delays in revenue-related litigation, especially where public money is at stake.
