New India Assurance Company vs Jitender Kumar & Ors.
2010 Latest Caselaw 2625 Del

     *          IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI


                                                                          Date of Order: May 17, 2010
+ CM 8445 of 2010 in MAC APP 301/2010
%                                                                                      17.05.2010
      New India Assurance Company                                                      ...Appellant
      Through: Ms. Ambika Roy, Advocate

         Versus

         Jitender Kumar & Ors.                                                   ...Respondents

Through: nemo

JUSTICE SHIV NARAYAN DHINGRA

1. Whether reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment?

2. To be referred to the reporter or not?

3. Whether judgment should be reported in Digest?

ORAL

1. This application under Section 5 of Limitation Act has been filed by the appellant

for condonation of delay of 162 days in filing the present appeal by the appellant

insurance company. The grounds of condonation of delay as given in the application are

that the mother of appellant's counsel was seriously ill and had to be hospitalized in

Mumbai for necessary treatment. The counsel for appellant had to be present in Mumbai

for this reason. The other ground is that sometime was required by the investigator of the

insurance company to acquire license details of the driver from the Department of

Transport.

2. None of the two grounds are available to the appellant for condonation of delay. It

is not that driving license verification is to be done after award is passed. The verification

of driving license of the driver, if any, was required to be done by the insurance company

when claim was filed. The insurance company was supposed to bring on record the

outcome of its investigation regarding driving license during trial. If the appellant failed to

MAC 301/2010 New India Assurance Co. Ltd. v. Jitender Kumar & Ors. Page 1 Of 2 prove before the Tribunal about the driving license being fake this ground for

condonation of delay in filing the appeal is not available to the appellant. Similarly,

Section 5 of Limitation Act does not envisage the inability of advocate to file appeal due

to his personal reasons as a ground for condonation of delay. The insurance company

could have contacted any other advocate available for filing the appeal. In fact, the

insurance company even in this High Court has many advocates on its panel. If one

advocate is ill or his mother was ill, any other panel advocate could have filed the appeal

or a new advocate could have been engaged. I, therefore, find no force in this application

for condonation of delay. The application is hereby dismissed.

MAC APP 301/2010

Since the application for condonation of delay in filing the appeal has been

dismissed, this appeal is barred by limitation and is hereby dismissed as such.

May 17, 2010                                                     SHIV NARAYAN DHINGRA J.
rd




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