IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA C. REV. No.125 of 2010 PRAVEEN PAL, S/o Sri Radhey Shyam Pal, R/o Village – Baheri, PS Karamchat (Sabor), District Kaimur (Bhabua) ……. Petitioner Versus 1. STATE OF BIHAR 2. the Home Secretary, Govt. of Bihar, Patna 3. The Director General of Police, Bihar, Patna 4. The Joint Secretary, Dept. of Home (Police), Govt. of Bihar, Patna 5. The Deputy Inspector General of Police North Zone, Muzaffarpur 6. The Chairman, Bihar, Military Police, North Division Board -2, cum – Superintendent of Police, East Champaran, Motihari………… Opposite Parties ----------- 03- 10/11/2010 Heard learned counsel for the parties. This review application has been filed by the appellant of LPA No.348 of 2010, for review and/or modification of the order dated 19.4.2010, rejecting the appeal. It is stated that as per the advertisement, the petitioner did qualify in chest measurement. We find from the record that this point was available to the petitioner in writ proceedings. He also did not raise it as an issue at the hearing of the appeal. The petitioner in fact wants re-hearing of the appeal so that the issue relating to chest measurement could be raised and considered. Considering the narrow scope of review jurisdiction, we are not inclined to entertain this application. That would be putting a premium on negligence and acquiescence, apart from applicability of the principles of constructive Res Judicata. 2. Furthermore, we are in this context reminded of the conclusion arrived at by Mr. Bibek Debroy in his book entitled `In the Dock: Absurdities of Indian Law’, that the pending litigations in this country without any addition thereto, will take 324 years for disposal. 2 These observations were made more than two decades ago, and the situation has further deteriorated. One Judge perhaps of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in one of his speeches recently has made observations that it will now take 350 years or so to dispose of the pending cases. 3. The following portion of the book by Fali S Nariman, entitled “India’s Legal System : Can it be saved”, is also relevant in the present context : “More than one hundred years ago, a law member in the Government of India (Hobhouse) recorded in a minute dated 5 September 1872 (on the Bill leading to the Privy Council Appeal Act, 1874) the following observations: In considering what limit should be assigned to the power of appealing, our leading maxim is, that it is the interest of the commonwealth to have an end of law suit. No man has a right to unlimited draughts on the time and money of the public in order to get his private affairs settled as he wishes. The State’s duty is discharged when it has provided such a reasonable amount of attention and skill and honesty as well satisfy reasonable men that their causes have been decided, erroneously or otherwise, on the merits, and according to the best ability of the judge, and so will prevent them from feeling that resentment of sheer injustice which drives people to take the law into their hands and to wage private war. Upon this principle all laws place some limits to litigation. And so have we placed limits to the power of appealing. Pithily put, and elegantly phrased. The portion about no man having a right to unlimited draughts on the time and money of the public in order to get his private affairs settled as he wished was quoted by Justice Gajendragadkar (who later became Chief Justice of India) in one of the early reports of the Law Commission of India, but despite what was so wisely said by Mr. Hobhouse and again by Chief Justice Gajendragadkar, our laws continue to provide (by way of appeals, reviews and revisions) unlimited draughts on the time and money of the public in order to get private affairs ultimately settled. For instance, we have now abolished second appeals, and yet lawyers go on arguing endlessly about the maintainability of intra-court appeals under special laws.” 3 4. In that view of the matter, we are not inclined to entertain this civil review application. It is dismissed. ( S K Katriar ) ( Kishore K Mandal ) mrl