Gujarat High Court
State Of Gujarat vs Shri Aurovil Cooperative Housing ... on 10 January, 2024
Author: Sunita Agarwal
Bench: Sunita Agarwal
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C/CA/63/2024 ORDER DATED: 10/01/2024
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CIVIL APPLICATION (FOR CONDONATION OF DELAY) NO. 63 of 2024
In
F/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 36263 of 2023
With
F/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 36263 of 2023
In
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 12892 of 2003
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STATE OF GUJARAT
Versus
SHRI AUROVIL COOPERATIVE HOUSING SOCIETY LTD.
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Appearance:
MR. KRUTIK PARIKH, AGP, for the Applicant(s) No. 1,2,3
for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE
SUNITA AGARWAL
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ANIRUDDHA P. MAYEE
Date : 10/01/2024
ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE SUNITA
AGARWAL)
1. This is a wholly misconceived appeal filed on
behalf of the State - appellants after an inordinate
delay of 3186 days (more than 10 years).
2. The explanation offered in the affidavit
accompanying the delay condonation application is only
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casual administrative delay. The averments made
therein in paragraph '3' therein show that there was a
gap of more than one year in two communications
between the office of Government Pleader and the
Legal Department of the State made at one point of
time. A perusal of the statement therein indicates that
repeated opinions were sought from the Assistant
Government Pleader on 22.07.2013, 16.09.2014,
03.08.2015, 05.08.2015, 03.11.2015, 10.10.2017, after
proposal dated 15.04.2013 was sent to the Revenue
Department for preferring an appeal against the
judgment and order dated 01.03.2013. A fresh
proposal dated 11.10.2017 with respect to seeking
legal opinion was forwarded again to the Revenue
Department on 11.10.2017. The clarification was
sought by the State Government on 16.11.2017 and on
22.01.2018. The clarification sought by the State
Government was forwarded to the Legal Department to
seek necessary details over the period of one year in
the year 2019. Again on 01.01.2020, the Department
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sought legal opinion from Assistant Government
Pleader and a fresh proposal was forwarded to the
State Government on 29.01.2020 for challenging the
judgment and order dated 01.03.2013. The legal
opinion, thereafter, were sought by various
communications in the year 2020 and 2022. On
08.06.2022, legal opinion was provided by the Assistant
Government Pleader and on 13.06.2022, the said
opinion was forwarded to the Revenue Department.
The State Government sought clarification from the
Revenue Department and later vide order dated
23.08.2023, permission was granted to prefer an
Appeal.
3. From the averments made in the affidavit, it is
more than evident that there was no conscious decision
on the part of the State Government to prefer the
appeal after a period of 10 years and there has been no
consideration that repeated letters were written by
Revenue Department seeking legal opinion and the
matter had not been pursued for long.
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4. The assertions made in the affidavit
accompanying the delay condonation application, as
noted hereinabove, cannot be taken as explanation to
the inordinate delay of 10 years. The slackness of the
concerned officers in proceedings with the matter is
writ large on the face of the record. It seems that the
State Government while granting permission to prefer
appeal vide order dated 23.08.2023 has completely
ignored this aspect of the matter.
5. We, therefore, do not find any good ground to
entertain this appeal after a period of 10 years. The
Appeal is dismissed on the ground of inordinate,
unexplained delay on the part of the State Appellants.
6. However, before parting with the judgment, we
may reiterate that in our repeated orders, passed in
Letters Patent Appeal at an earlier point of time, we
have taken note of the casual approach of the State
Government in preferring Letters Patent Appeal (Intra-
court appeal) before this Court. We have called upon
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the State Government to formulate a comprehensive
policy providing guidelines for filing of Letters Patent
Appeal in this Court.
7. A draft guidelines in this regard, though, was
produced before us in one of the matter but the same
was not satisfactory. On the assurance given by the
learned Advocate General, we granted more time to the
State Government to come out with the comprehensive
policy. The litigation policy, if any, providing guidelines
for institution of cases in the Court of law, specially the
Letters Patent Appeal (intra-court appeal in this Court),
has not been placed before us till date.
8. Learned AGP Mr. Krutik Parikh appearing for
the State appellant is directed to bring this order to the
notice of the learned Advocate General and the Legal
Secretary, Law Department, State of Gujarat, for
compliance.
9. Subject to above, the present Letters Patent
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Appeal is dismissed. Civil Application for delay as well
as all pending application(s), if any, shall also stand
disposed of.
(SUNITA AGARWAL, CJ )
(ANIRUDDHA P. MAYEE, J.)
AMAR SINGH
