Condone delay if claim legally sustainable: Punjab and Haryana High Court

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, July 11

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that the delay in moving the court for the redressal of a grievance should be condoned if the individual’s claim is legally sustainable. The Bench also ruled that manifest illegality could not be upheld solely on the ground of laches. “When substantial justice and technical considerations are pitted against each other, the cause of substantial justice deserves to be preferred,” Justice Jagmohan Bansal ruled.

The Bench asserted that the state could not deprive an individual of a vested right because of a non-deliberate delay. The assertions came on a petition filed by a cop against the state of Punjab and other respondents for setting aside, among other things, an order passed in January 2009, whereby a punishment of forfeiting two years of service was imposed.

Justice Bansal asserted that the petitioner’s appeal was dismissed in July 2009, but he opted to remain silent for about a decade. The Director-General of Police subsequently dismissed his review petition on the ground of delay in October 2019. Justice Bansal observed that the present petition was filed before the high court after the “expiry of 15 years” from the date of the appellate order and five years from the order passed by the DGP. The petitioner was attempting to revive a “lapsed cause of action” by way of the present petition. But his counsel could not advance any plausible reason to entertain the petition after the expiry of such a long period.

Justice Bansal asserted no hard-and-fast rule could be laid down “as to when a high court should refuse to exercise its jurisdiction in favour of a party who moves it after considerable delay and is otherwise guilty of laches”. He added that discretion was required to be exercised judiciously and reasonably. “In the event that the claim made by the applicant is legally sustainable, delay should be condoned. Where illegality is manifest, it cannot be sustained on the sole ground of laches”.

Justice Bansal ruled the petition deserved to be dismissed on the ground of delay and laches. A party is guilty of laches when it approaches the court after a considerable delay. The law of limitation in India prescribes specific time periods within which legal actions must be initiated to seek redressal for grievances. The intent is to prevent indefinite delays and ensure timely administration of justice.