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CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING APPEAL  - SUBSTANTIAL JUSTICE SHOULD PREVAIL

 "In our view, condoning the delay always advances the cause of justice and afford opportunity to parties to contest their case on merits whereas; declining to condone results in depriving them of an opportunity of hearing on merits. By this expression, we do not mean to suggest that in every case the court should always condone the delay. All that we wish to say is that by and large, the approach of the court should be to ensure that substantial justice is done to parties by affording them an opportunity of hearing on the merits of the case." This was observed recently on 19/05/2014 by a division bench of the Hon'ble Gauhati High Court in Pawan Enterprises' case WP(C) 2476 of 2014.

In the above case, the appeal before tribunal was delayed by  2 months and 19 days and Hon'ble Tribunal rejected the prayer for condonation on the ground that illness of the staff who signed the appeal cannot be a genuine cause for delay. Hon'ble High Court, while relying on the judgment of the Apex Court in "Sangram Singh –vs -Election Tribunal, Kotah and another, AIR 1955 SC 425" held that the delay in filing the appeal before the Tribunal should have been condoned. Since the Tribunal did not do it, we, on our own, condone the delay.

In the said Judgment, the Division bench also held that signing of appeal by should not be basis to dismiss the appeal and the Tribunal could have granted an opportunity to writ petitioners to rectify the defects.

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