Refusal to condone 248-day delay; appeal dismissed for want of prosecution and also on merits

SC refused to condone a 248-day delay, finding no error in the impugned order or sufficient explanation to liberalize the delay. After reviewing the record, the Court held the appeal unsustainable and dismissed it both for want of prosecution delay and on merits.

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The Appeal was reported to be delayed by 248 days. The Court perused the impugned order to determine whether it was a "fit case to liberally construe the explanation to condone the delay" and found no "palpable error" in that order. On that basis the Court concluded that the explanation for delay could not be so construed and proceeded to consider merits, ultimately finding no error warranting interference. The Appeal was therefore "dismissed both on ground of delay as well as on merits." The reasoning rests on refusal to relax the delay requirement in the absence of a satisfactory explanation and on an independent assessment of the impugned order's correctness.

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