Limitation Act, 1963 – Condonation of delay – RespondentManaging Committee of the School filed application for release of grant-in-aid – Tribunal allowed the application by directing the State and the Director to release grant-in-aid in favour of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the school – State filed appeal which was time-barred as also not accompanied by the certified copy of the impugned order – For a period of 8 years, the State did not file the certified copy of the impugned order – High Court dismissed the appeal for failure to file the certified copy of the tribunal’s order – Thereafter, the State obtained the certified copy of the tribunal’s order and filed application seeking recall of the order by the High Court, alongwith the application for condonation of delay of 291 days – High Court rejected the application for condonation of delay resulting in the application for recall being dismissed as time-barred – Challenge to:
Held: Condonation of delay cannot be claimed as a matter of right – It is entirely the discretion of the Court whether or not to condone delay – No cause, much less sufficient cause, has been shown for exercise of discretion in favour of the State of Odisha – Nature of explanation in the application for condonation of delay is such that with much ado, the proceedings could be closed – However, since the expression ‘sufficient cause’ employed by the legislature in s.5 is adequately elastic to enable the courts to apply the law in a meaningful manner which subserves the ends of justice and in view of the submission made, the matter was considered in some depth – State of Odisha utterly lethargic, tardy and indolent not only before the High Court but also before this Court – Notwithstanding that its appeal was dismissed as time-barred by the High Court, this Court was approached by the State of Odisha four months after expiry of the period of limitation – Despite all the latitude shown to a “State”, the cause sought to be shown here by the State of Odisha is not an explanation but a lame excuse – No case for exercise of discretion set up – Applications for condonation of delay in filing the special leave petition and condonation of delay in refiling the same, rejected, and the special leave petition dismissed as time-barred – Odisha Education Act, 1969. [Paras 12, 13, 20-22]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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