Jharkhand High Court
Narottamka Mercantile Pvt. Ltd vs The State Of Jharkhand And Another on 16 January, 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
L.P.A. No. 758 of 2018
Narottamka Mercantile Pvt. Ltd. ...Appellant
Versus
The State of Jharkhand and another ... Respondents
WITH
L.P.A. No. 760 of 2018
M/s. Laxminarayan Ram Swaroop Shivhare & Company ... Appellant
Versus
The State of Jharkhand and another ... Respondents
WITH
L.P.A. No. 761 of 2018
M/s. Laxminarayan Ram Swaroop Shivhare & Company ... Appellant
Versus
The State of Jharkhand and another ... Respondents
WITH
L.P.A. No. 762 of 2018
K.D. Liquor & Fertilizers Pvt. Ltd. ... Appellant
Versus
The State of Jharkhand and another ... Respondents
WITH
L.P.A. No. 763 of 2018
Abbu Sama ... Appellant
Versus
The State of Jharkhand and another ... Respondents
WITH
L.P.A. No. 764 of 2018
Radhey Biscuits Pvt. Limited ... Appellant
Versus
The State of Jharkhand and another ... Respondents
WITH
L.P.A. No. 765 of 2018
M/s. Laxminarayan Ram Swaroop Shivhare & Company ... Appellant
Versus
The State of Jharkhand and another ... Respondents
WITH
L.P.A. No. 766 of 2018
M/s. Laxminarayan Ram Swaroop Shivhare & Company ... Appellant
Versus
The State of Jharkhand and another ... Respondents
WITH
L.P.A. No. 769 of 2018
M/s. Laxminarayan Ram Swaroop Shivhare & Company ... Appellant
Versus
The State of Jharkhand and another ... Respondents
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CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SHREE CHANDRASHEKHAR
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RATNAKER BHENGRA
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For the Appellant(s) : Mr. Satyabir Bharti, Advocate;
Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Advocate
For the State : Mr. Ratnesh Kumar, SC (L&C)-I
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-2- L.P.A. No. 758 of 2018 and analogous cases
Order No.17/ Dated: 16th January 2023
The appellants in this batch of Letters Patent Appeals are seeking
condonation of delay of 234 days in preferring these Appeals.
Mr. Satyabir Bharti, the learned counsel for the appellants,
submits that on account of some communication gap the order of the writ
Court could not be properly communicated to the appellants who
subsequently took steps for filing these Letters Patent Appeals, however, in
the meantime, delay of 234 days has occurred in filing these Letters Patent
Appeals.
The learned counsel for the appellants has submitted that in the
matters of this nature in which huge financial implications are involved it is
reasonable to infer that delay on the part of the appellants was not
intentional.
The State of Jharkhand has not filed its reply to these
applications for condonation of delay.
Mr. Ratnesh Kumar, the learned SC (L&C)-I, submits that the
judgment of the learned Single Judge is well-considered and there is nothing
on stakes for the appellants and, while so, no ground has been made out by
the appellants to condone the delay.
From a glance at the writ Court's order, we gather that the
Member, Board of Revenue, State of Jharkhand has allowed remissions to
the retailers who were allotted excise retail shops for the block period
2004-07.
The writ Court has, however, interfered with the order dated 1st
November 2006 passed by the Member, Board of Revenue and quashed the
said order.
While aforesaid is the fact-situation, it is difficult to accept the
submission raised on behalf of the State of Jharkhand that no stake of the
appellants is involved in this batch of Letters Patent Appeals and, while so,
even in absence of proper explanation offered by the appellants in their
applications under section 5 of the Limitation Act the Court in its discretion
may condone the delay by imposing appropriate cost upon the appellants.
For this proposition, we refer to the judgment of the Hon'ble
Supreme Court in "M/s. Esbee Inds. Corporation v. M/s. Bulk Systems Int.
Ltd." AIROnline 2000 SC 22.
-3- L.P.A. No. 758 of 2018 and analogous cases
Having regard to the aforesaid facts and circumstances in the
case, we condone the delay in filing the present Letters Patent Appeals by
imposing the cost of Rs.5000/- to be deposited by each of the appellants to
the Advocate Clerks Association within two weeks.
IA No.5732 of 2020 in LPA No.758 of 2018; IA No.5719 of
2020 in LPA No.760 of 2018; IA No.5729 of 2020 in LPA No.761 of 2018;
IA No.5723 of 2020 in LPA No.762 of 2018; IA No.5725 of 2020 in LPA
No.763 of 2018; IA No.5722 of 2020 in LPA No.764 of 2018; IA No.5718 of
2020 in LPA No.765 of 2018; IA No.5727 of 2020 in LPA No.766 of 2018;
IA No.5716 of 2020 in LPA No.769 of 2018 are allowed.
Post these Letters Patent Appeals on 13 th February 2023 to be
taken up as the first matter.
Before the next date of hearing, the parties shall complete the
pleadings and exchange their written submissions.
Pursuant to the order dated 2nd February 2021, a counter-
affidavit has been filed by the State of Jharkhand which has been sworn by
Ram Lila Rawani who was posted as Assistant Commissioner of Excise,
Ranchi at the relevant time.
Short of saying that we are shocked, we indicate that negligence
in filing the counter-affidavit on the part of the officer who has sworn the
counter-affidavit is apparent from various documents which have been
brought on record with the said counter-affidavit - numerous pages are faint
or not legible and several typed copies have not been paginated.
We, therefore, issue a caution to the said officer to remain
careful and vigilant at all times during his service tenure.
(Shree Chandrashekhar, J.)
(Ratnaker Bhengra, J.)
S.B.
