Punjab and Haryana High Court Closed 23-Year-Old Case; Says Few Files Getting Stolen Or Eaten By Termites Not Unusual; Records Missing

The Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case observed and has closed a 22 years old petition because the records could not be traced despite all the possible efforts.
The bench headed by Justice Anoop Chitkara in the case observed and has stated that while giving the heaps of files to deal with, if a few files are misplaced, stolen, eaten by termites, or get mixed with others would not be unusual. Thus, while given this, the sole option left with this court is to close this petition, with liberty reserved to any party to revive it by filing an application placing the reconstructed record.
The court made the said observations in response to a revision petition filed in 2000 by the State of Punjab in a case pertaining to Prevention of Corruption Act.
The court observed that the accused was convicted in 2012 and was sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment.
It has also bene informed by the said court that despite all efforts, the records of the case could not be traced.
The court noted that the detailed office report, while referring to the efforts made and steps taken to reconstruct the record, reveals that the record was unavailable to be reconstituted despite all possible efforts.
Adding to it, the court stated that the despite the matter being so old, the petitioner never filed any application to expedite its decision, which casts a shadow over its serious intent to contend this old matter.
The bench of Justice Chitkara observed that probably the initial delay lost all hopes, and the failure to decide in a reasonable time probably failed the hopes for justice.
The court while considering the facts and circumstances of the case stated that the sole option left with this court is to close this petition, with liberty reserved to any party to revive it by filing an application placing the reconstructed record.
Accordingly, the court disposed of the plea.