Summary
The Supreme Court dismissed the State of Odisha's special leave petition as time-barred, holding that an explanation attributing delay to procedural approvals from higher authorities was a lame excuse and not sufficient cause under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, despite the latitude ordinarily shown to the State.
Issues
- Whether the State of Odisha showed sufficient cause for condonation of the delay in filing and re-filing its special leave petition.
- How far the liberal approach to condonation of delay applied to the State extends where the explanation is a bare reference to procedural delay in obtaining approvals.
Provisions considered
- Section 5, Limitation Act, 1963The Court noted that 'sufficient cause' is elastic enough to be applied to advance justice, and traced the liberal approach for the State in Katiji and Ramegowda alongside later stricter decisions, but found that a stereotyped plea of procedural delay in obtaining approval disclosed no cause at all. (¶¶ 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21)
Held
- An application stating only that the matter was sent to the law department and that delay arose from procedural delay in obtaining approval from the higher authority shows no cause, much less sufficient cause, for condoning delay. (¶¶ 7, 12)
- While Katiji and Ramegowda call for a justice-oriented approach and some latitude for the Government, the Court in Amateur Riders Club had already recognised that there is a point beyond which courts cannot help even a Government litigant bound by bureaucratic indifference; a distinction must be drawn between an explanation and an excuse. (¶¶ 14, 15, 17, 18, 19)
- Condonation of delay is not a matter of right but lies in the Court's discretion; where the State was lethargic both before the High Court (where its appeal, lodged without a certified copy, lay defective for years) and before the Supreme Court, the cause shown was a lame excuse and no case for exercising discretion was made out. (¶¶ 3, 4, 5, 20, 21)
Result
Applications for condonation of delay in filing and re-filing rejected; special leave petition dismissed as time-barred.