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Courts Should Be Conscious Of Bureaucratic Delays While Considering Delay Condonation Pleas By State

In CIVIL APPEAL NO.8298 OF 2019, SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 22541 OF 2018),
THE STATE OF MANIPUR vs KOTING LAMKANG, appeal was filed before the Supreme Court against judgment and order of the Manipur High Court whereby the High Court had refused the prayer condonation of delay of 312 days in preferring the Regular First Appeal.

The Supreme Court however allowing the appeal held that while concluding as above, it was necessary for the court to also be conscious of the bureaucratic delay and the slow pace in reaching a Government decision and the routine way of deciding whether the State should prefer an appeal against a judgment adverse to it. Even while observing that the law of limitation would harshly affect the party, the court felt that the delay in the appeal filed by the State, should not be condoned. Regard should be had in similar such circumstances to the impersonal nature of the Government’s functioning where individual officers may fail to act responsibly. This in turn, would result in injustice to the institutional interest of the State. If the appeal filed by State are lost for individual default, those who are at fault, will not usually be individually affected.

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