Shankarbhai Mohanbhai Marwadi vs Principal
2021 Latest Caselaw 17530 Guj

     C/CA/1816/2021                                ORDER DATED: 22/11/2021



           IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

                  R/CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 1816 of 2021
            In F/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 24554 of 2021

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                      SHANKARBHAI MOHANBHAI MARWADI
                                  Versus
                                PRINCIPAL
==========================================================
Appearance:
MR. MN MARFATIA(6930) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
for the Respondent(s) No. 1,2,3
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 CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S.H.VORA
       and
       HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ANIRUDDHA P. MAYEE

                            Date : 22/11/2021
                             ORAL ORDER

(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S.H.VORA)

By way of present application under Section 5 of the

Limitation Act for condonation of delay, the applicant -

original petitioner prays to condone the delay of 3761 days

caused in preferring the Letters Patent Appeal against the

judgment dated 6.11.2009 passed by the learned Single Judge

in Special Civil Application No.7862 of 2009 whereby the

learned Single Judge has confirmed the order dated 6.2.2009

passed by the Gujarat Secondary Education Tribunal,

Ahmedabad.

2. According to the applicant, the applicant took 5 months

for arrangement for the funds to consult an advocate for

C/CA/1816/2021 ORDER DATED: 22/11/2021

seeking advise in respect of further course of action; the

concerned advocate prepared/drafted the affidavit for the

purpose of proceedings to be filed before the High Court as

per the Annexure-A; in the year 2010, the applicant's father

was ill and had to be hospitalized for medical treatment at

Anand; the applicant was struggling to maintain the family

and the family of the applicant was hit by COVID-19 pandemic

situation and thereafter, the applicant consulted another

advocate and filed present proceedings.

3. We have carefully considered the averments made in the

application in support of the grounds stated in the application

and as also urged orally before this Court. The length of delay

is not material, but there should be clear indication on the

part of the applicant to show that the applicant was not

negligent or careless in pursuing the legal remedy. What we

have noticed in the present proceeding is that, though the

applicant was fully aware of his legal remedy and for that

purpose, he contacted an advocate in the year 2010 and then

slept over his right for quite long period of 10 years and tried

to justify long delay on account of his personal difficulty

and/or COVID-19 situation. The explanation so furnished is

not acceptable and not even justifiable. Under the

C/CA/1816/2021 ORDER DATED: 22/11/2021

circumstances, we are not inclined to accept the present

application on account of careless and negligent conduct and

for want of sufficient explanation on justifiable grounds for the

delay caused in preferring the proceedings.

4. Under the circumstances, we reject the present

application filed under Section 5 of the Limitation Act. In view

of rejection of the present Civil Application, captioned Letters

Patent Appeal and connected Civil Applications would not

survive.

(S.H.VORA, J)

(ANIRUDDHA P. MAYEE,J) KAUSHIK D. CHAUHAN