Condonation of appeal delay and availability of constitutional writ relief to cure time-bar, relief granted.

Appellate authority lacks power to condone delay beyond the statutory 90-day limitation; on that technical basis dismissal for an 88-day delay was correct. The High Court may, however, exercise constitutional writ jurisdiction to relieve time-bar where sufficient cause is explained in the appeal memo; the court accepted medical emergency (mother's cancer) and payment of filing deposit as evidence of bona fide intention, treated the stay as continuing since the stated date, and consequently set aside the impugned order dated 25.06.2015.

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Issues: Whether the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India can condone delay in filing an appeal and set aside the Appellate Authority's order dismissing the appeal for delay and remit the matter for decision on merits.

Analysis: The Appellate Authority dismissed the appeal for delay (88 days) and lacked power to condone delay beyond the statutory limitation. Article 226 provides the High Court jurisdiction to condone delay where sufficient explanation is presented in the memo of appeal. The petitioner supplied an explanation (medical emergency of petitioners mother) and deposited 7.5% for filing the appeal, indicating bonafide conduct. A stay in favour of the petitioner was in operation since 06.02.2017.

Conclusion: The High Court condoned the delay, set aside the order dated 25.06.2015, and remitted the matter to the Appellate Authority to decide the appeal on merits.

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