Condonation Of Delay Is An Exception, Should Not Be Used As Per Convenience Of Government Departments: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has observed that condonation of delay is an exception which should not be used as per convenience of the Government departments.

Justice Chandra Dhari Singh added that courts must not treat Government agencies differently while deciding the applications for condonation of delay and that the Government is under “special obligation” to ensure that their duties are properly performed.

While pulling up the Delhi Government’s health department for filing an application seeking condonation of delay of 651 days in filing the application for restoration of a petition which was dismissed in default in May 2017, the court said:

“The petitioner though a State Department having numerous resources at its disposal, has still been unable to file the application of restoration in a timely manner. It is a well settled principle that the Government is under a special obligation to perform duties with diligence and commitment. The condonation of delay is an exception which should not be used as per convenience of the Government Departments.”

The court noted that the application was filed seeking condonation of delay in filing the application seeking restoration of the petition which was not only dismissed due to non-appearance on behalf of the Delhi Government’s health department but also due to non-compliance of court’s directions, despite the fact that the matter was pending for a long time.

“….it is apparent that the petitioner never had any intention to pursue the matter and had significantly delayed the matter in earlier hearings as well. The petitioner neither took steps to take recourse available, nor gave sufficient and reasonable explanation for such laxity on earlier occasions. This Court expresses its displeasure for such a state of affairs in the petitioner department and is not fully satisfied with the grounds taken by the petitioner for delay in filling the application seeking restoration,” the court said.

Justice Singh added that despite knowing about dismissal of the petition due to non-appearance, the government department failed to file the application seeking restoration on time and chose to do so only after two years and as per its own convenience.

“The said situation can only be termed as non-seriousness of the petitioner department and the other parties cannot be left suffering and desolated. Therefore, this Court cannot accept the reasons provided for delay in filing the application when it is evident that there was dereliction of duty by the petitioner to comply with the orders of this Court on earlier occasions as well. Thus, the averments made in the application qua delay of 691 days cannot be classified as a reasonable delay in any manner,” the court observed.

Furthermore, it said that being a Government agency, the Delhi Government’s health department should act in a timely manner and justify the reasons for an inordinate delay, if any.

“It is a well- known fact that the red-tape in Government agencies sometimes leads to delays in filing applications, however, at the same time, the delay of 691 days without plausible justification cannot be permissible, as it also has the potential to open the floodgates for similar applications on such grounds,” the court said.

The court said that it did not find any merit in the application as the health department failed to satisfy that there existed sufficient cause for delay in filing the application seeking restoration, a condition necessary for condonation of delay under Section 5 of the Act.

“In view of the foregoing discussions, this Court does not find cogent reasons to condone the inordinate delay of 691 days in filing the application seeking restoration of the petition,” the court said while dismissing the application.

Title: DEPTT.OF HEALTH, GOVT.OF NCT OF DELHI v. KAMLA MEHNDIRATTA & ORS.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 681

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