Govt 'Not Privileged' For Condonation Of Delay, Law Of Limitation Can't Be Distorted To Advantage Select Few: Chhattisgarh High Court

The Chhattisgarh High Court has observed that condonation of delay is not a rule but an exception, which cannot be claimed as a matter of right or anticipated privilege by Government bodies, on whom the law of limitation equally applies.A Division Bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Bibhu Datta Guru held, “Government departments are under a special obligation to discharge their duties with due diligence and commitment. Condonation of delay is an exception, not the rule, and cannot be claimed as a matter of right or anticipated privilege by Government entities. The law casts its protection equally upon all litigants and cannot be distorted to confer undue advantage upon a select few.”The observation came in response to an appeal which challenged an order of a Single Judge dated 23.04.2025 and suffered from a delay of 107 days from the prescribed period of limitation.Justifying the delay as bonafide and not deliberate, the State submitted that it occurred on account of fulfilment of various departmental formalities (obtaining necessary documents and information), which took an unexpected long time, and the bureaucratic working of the State Government machinery- that is a multi-functioning body which prevented the filing of the case within the prescribed period of time.The Court referred to a host of cases including– Postmaster General and others v. Living Media India Limited and another [(2012) 3 SCC 563], State of Madhya Pradesh v. Ramkumar Choudhary [2024 INSC 932], Shivamma (dead) by LRS Vs. Karnataka Housing Board & Ors. [2025 INSC 1104], in which the Supreme Court repeatedly held that the law of limitation applies equally to the Government, which cannot paint unnecessary and callous delays as bonafide merely on the grounds of complex bureaucracy and red-tapism within its machinery or instrumentalities.Against this backdrop, the Court held,“… the State has failed to provide any proper or satisfactory explanation for the delay in filing the present appeal. The only reason cited is that the Law & Legislative Affairs Department, Government of Chhattisgarh, Mantralaya, Naya Raipur, had forwarded a proposal to the Office of the Advocate General for initiating an appeal against the impugned order dated 23.04.2025. Thereafter, the case was processed, and the present petition was ultimately filed. However, this sequence of events, lacking in specificity or justifiable cause, does not amount to a cogent or acceptable explanation. Thus, the State has miserably failed to demonstrate sufficient cause warranting the condonation of an inordinate delay of 107 days.”Thus, in the absence of a bona-fide reason justifying the delay, the Court held that it was not inclined to exercise its discretionary power to condone the extraordinary delay of 107 days. Accordingly, the appeal was rejected on the ground of delay and laches.Case Details:Case Number: WA No. 796 of 2025Case Title: State Of Chhattisgarh v. Mangala SharmaClick Here To Read/Download Order

Govt 'Not Privileged' For Condonation Of Delay, Law Of Limitation Can't Be Distorted To Advantage Select Few: Chhattisgarh High Court

Saahas Arora

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