TMI Blog2023 (8) TMI 1118X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... suffice it to record that it cannot be accepted as a ground to discard law of limitation. Also, in the case of Bherulal [ 2020 (10) TMI 1231 - SUPREME COURT] the apex court found the proposition preposterous that if there is some merit in the case, the period of delay is to be given a goby. As observed by the apex court in the case of Bherulal (supra), the irony is that no action is taken against the officers who sit on files and do nothing under a presumption that the court would condone the delay in routine and it is time when the concerned officer responsible for such laxity bears the consequences. There is another aspect, which is quite vital. The legislature u/s 260A of the Act has already granted a comparatively much longer period of 120 days to the revenue to file appeals. That in itself should call for a rather stricter scrutiny of the matrix set up by the revenue to explain delays in filing its appeals. But in the present case, as mentioned above, appellant/revenue opted not even to set up a specific factual matrix, apparently under overconfidence that the applicant being a government body and the issue being qua exchequer, the delay in filing the appeal would surely b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... overnment authorities have fallen on deaf ears i.e., the Supreme Court of India cannot be a place for the Governments to walk in when they choose ignoring the period of limitation prescribed. We have raised the issue that if the Government machinery is so inefficient and incapable of filing appeals/petitions in time, the solution may lie in requesting the Legislature to expand the time period for filing limitation for Government authorities because of their gross incompetence. That is not so. Till the Statute subsists, the appeals/petitions have to be filed as per the Statues prescribed. ..... ..... 8. Looking to the period of delay and the casual manner in which the application has been worded, we consider appropriate to impose costs on the petitioner- State of Rs. 25,000/- (Rupees twenty five thousand) to be deposited with the Mediation and Conciliation Project Committee. The amount be deposited in four weeks. The amount be recovered from the officers responsible for the delay in filing the special leave petition and a certificate of recovery of the said amount be also filed in this Court within the said period of time. Our anguish while examining this matter can b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... yped copies of all the orders are required to be filed along with the Appeal. Beside this, several other compliances have to be fulfilled by the Assessing Officer, which has caused an inadvertent delay . 4. In support of this application, learned counsel for the applicant/ revenue argued that the power to condone delay must be exercised liberally in favour of the applicant, especially where the applicant is a government body and the exchequer is involved. On the other hand, learned counsel for respondent/assessee strongly argued that no circumstances have been set up in this application to explain such inordinate delay in filing the appeal, therefore, it is not a case that warrants liberality in condoning the delay; that the delay simpliciter worked to the detriment of the respondent/assessee and failure on the part of the appellant/revenue has resulted in a substantive right accruing in favour of the respondent/assessee. 5. Before proceeding further, it would be apposite to briefly traverse through the relevant legal position. 5.1 The provision under Section 260A(1) of the Income Tax Act lays down that an appeal shall lie to the High Court from every order passed in appe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... urt has held that unless and until a reasonable or satisfactory explanation is given, the inordinate delay should not be condoned. In para 6 of the judgment, the Supreme Court has laid down in the following manner : Law of Limitation may harshly affect a particular party but it has to be applied with all its rigour when the statute so prescribes and the Courts have no power to extend the period of limitation on equitable grounds. The discretion exercised by the High Court was, thus, neither proper nor judicious. The order condoning the delay cannot be sustained. This appeal, therefore, succeeds and the impugned order is set aside. Consequently, the application for condonation of delay filed in the High Court would stand rejected and the Miscellaneous First Appeal shall stand dismissed as barred by time. No costs. (emphasis is ours) 5.5 In the case of Pundlik Jalam Patil (dead) by LRs vs Executive Engineer Jalgaon Medium Project, (2008) 17 SCC 448 , the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that basically the laws of limitation are founded on public policy and the courts have expressed at least three different reasons supporting the existence of statutes of limitation, nam ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... able right has accrued in favour of one party as a result of failure of the other party to explain the delay by showing sufficient cause and its own conduct, it will be unreasonable to take away that right on the mere asking of the applicant, particularly when the delay is directly a result of negligence, default or inaction of that party. Justice must be done to both parties equally. Then alone the ends of justice can be achieved. If a party has been thoroughly negligent in implementing its rights and remedies, it will be equally unfair to deprive the other party of a valuable right that has accrued to it in law as a result of his acting vigilantly. 27. . . 35. The expression sufficient cause implies the presence of legal and adequate reasons. The word sufficient means adequate enough, as much as may be necessary to answer the purpose intended. It embraces no more than that which provides a plentitude which, when done, suffices to accomplish the purpose intended in the light of existing circumstances and when viewed from the reasonable standard of practical and cautious men. .. 36. .The party shows that besides acting bonafide, it had taken all possible ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d with isolated cases of said aberrations. What we are facing in this Court is a spate of delayed appeals without any proper and convincing explanation or even an attempt in doing so. It is a common experience of Benches of this Court that the condonation applications are in a cyclostyled form and only the dates and days are filled in hand. The stay applications are also mechanically drafted and are in one standard cyclostyled form. Usually, the appeals are filed with defects. After the Registry points out the defects, the defects are not removed for months together. We do not think that the Supreme Court judgments can be usefully availed of by the Union of India in the colossal situation of negligence and delays as we find in this Court. In fact, it appears that the liberal approach of the higher courts and the understanding of the difficulties of the Government departments shown by the courts have not been appreciated in its proper perspective by the Government departments. Nobody in the Government Department feels any responsibility or takes any responsibility for the delay caused in the movement of files. There is no conscious and systematic efforts to keep the deadline of limi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... exercised on the basis of the facts of each case with common sense and public interest in view. (emphasis is ours) 5.9 Recently, in the case of Bherulal (supra), the Hon ble Supreme Court observed thus : 3. No doubt, some leeway is given for the Government inefficiencies but the sad part is that the authorities keep on relying on judicial pronouncements for a period of time when technology had not advanced and a greater leeway was given to the Government (Collector, Land Acquisition, Anantnag Anr vs. Mst. Katiji Ors. (1987) 2 SCC 107). This position is more than elucidated by the judgment of this Court in Office of the Chief Post Master General Ors. v. Living Media India Ltd. Anr. (2012) 3 SCC 563 where the Court observed as under: 27) It is not in dispute that the person(s) concerned were well aware or conversant with the issues involved including the prescribed period of limitation for taking up the matter by way of filing a special leave petition in this Court. They cannot claim that they have a separate period of limitation when the Department was possessed with competent persons familiar with court proceedings. In the absence of plausible and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e; that the delay has arisen in bonafide circumstances with no fault on the part of the appellant; that earnest efforts were made to expedite the process at various stages of finalizing the appeal; that the appeal has to be processed through official channel/hierarchy are completely nebulous and cannot be scrutinized to understand if the delay of 498 days in filing the appeal was on account of sufficient cause. 8. The appellant/revenue, to expect the least, ought to have explained explicitly the circumstances that led to delay, in the sense that there ought to have been in the very least a broad disclosure of movement of the file to explain such enormous delay of 498 days. But, what to say of that, even the time, if any, spent by the appellant/revenue in obtaining copies of the relevant orders has not been disclosed. Rather, as mentioned above, it appears that the concerned department of appellant/revenue has stocked a cyclostyled proforma of delay condonation applications, which are filed after simply inserting the number of days of delay. Can such laxity on the part of one of the litigants be ignored so as to snatch away from the other party a right which accrued to it on acco ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... government agencies in initiating appropriate legal proceedings lies extreme laxity, negligence and dereliction of duties on the part of government officials. Even in this hi-tech click of mouse age some of the government officials are yet to come out of their love for snail pace style of working. Worst is when such delays are aimed at simply completing formalities so that the government appeals get dismissed on the grounds of limitation, to the designed benefit of the other party. Whatever be the reason, it is either the loss to the exchequer or abrogation of the valuable rights of the assessee litigating against the State. Such negligent or deliberate dormancy on the part of government officials cannot be countenanced. It is high time such government officials are taken to task and penalized to recompense the exchequer, though such exercise can be undertaken in some other appropriate lis. Time has come to take drastic measures qua lethargy caused litigation delays, lest the chaos in judicial functioning percolated further. Time has come when due diligence has to replace negligence which pervades some of the government agencies as in the present case, so that justice does not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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