TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2010 (11) TMI 857
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....h of the Gauhati High Court, whereby appellants' application seeking condonation of delay of 59 days in preferring the appeal was rejected and their writ appeal was dismissed in limine as being barred by limitation. 3. The respondents herein filed writ petitions in the High Court seeking regularization of their services from the dates of their initial appointment with consequential benefits. A learned Single Judge of the High Court, vide his judgment dated 29th April 2009, allowed the writ petitions, and directed appellant No. 2 viz. the Assam Oil Division of the Indian Oil Corporation to treat the respondents as having been regularly appointed from the date of their initial appointment, and to give them all the consequential service benef....
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....rom their local lawyer on 7th May 2009, which was received by them on 21st May 2009. Thereafter, the same was forwarded to the General Manager (HR), Refinery Headquarters, New Delhi on 28th May 2009. Vide his letter dated 6th June 2009, the said General Manager sought some documents, including a certified copy of the judgment. Subsequently, the General Manager forwarded the case file to the company's legal advisors at New Delhi on 18th June 2009. The said legal advisors gave their opinion on 7th July 2009, advising the appellants to file an appeal against the judgment of the Single Judge; the proposal was approved by the headquarters of the appellants; whereafter the case file was handed over to the counsel for preparing and filing the appe....
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.... and this legal right which has accrued to the decree-holder by lapse of time should not be light-heartedly disturbed. The other consideration which cannot be ignored is that if sufficient cause for excusing delay is shown discretion is given to the court to condone delay and admit the appeal. This discretion has been deliberately conferred on the court in order that judicial power and discretion in that behalf should be exercised to advance substantial justice. As has been observed by the Madras High Court in Krishna v. Chathappan - (1890) ILR 13 Mad 269 "Section 5 gives the court a discretion which in respect of jurisdiction is to be exercised in the way in which judicial power and discretion ought to be exercised upon principles which ar....
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....ing to pass upon the parties either way." 10. In State (NCT of Delhi) v. Ahmed Jaan - (2008) 14 SCC 582, while observing that although no special indulgence can be shown to the Government which, in similar circumstances is not shown to an individual suitor, one cannot but take a practical view of the working of the Government without being unduly indulgent to the slow motion of its wheels, highlighted the following observations of this Court in State of Nagaland v. Lipok AO & Ors. - (2005) 3 SCC 752 = 2005 (183) E.L.T. 337 (S.C.) : "It is axiomatic that decisions are taken by officers/agencies proverbially at slow pace and encumbered process of pushing the files from table to table and keeping it on table for considerable time causing del....