Baldev Singh vs Kaku and Others

Vijender Singh Malik, J.—This appeal brought by the claimant against the award dated 1.2.2008, vide which his claim petition has been dismissed, is barred by limitation by 1348 days. Alongwith the grounds of appeal, the appellant has filed an application u/s 5 of the Limitation Act for condonation of delay of 1348 days in filing the appeal. The applicant claims that learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Rupnagar (for short ''the Tribunal'') passed the impugned award and he came to know about the same in the month of August and got a copy of the award on 14.08.2008. He further averred that he was unable to obtain copy of the impugned award in time due to negligence of his counsel of lower court. He has further claimed that he was not properly advised by his counsel of the lower court. He was misguided for almost four years for not filing the appeal. The appellant is unwell and has become permanently disabled for the rest of his life. He cannot hear and work properly and this is also a reason for his unemployment and for not engaging a counsel for the appeal in this court. The delay is, therefore, claimed to be unintentional.

Learned counsel for the applicant-appellant has contended that the delay has occurred due to wrong advice of the counsel of the appellant of the lower court. According to him, on account of the said advice, he could not bring the appeal in time.

The delay in bringing the appeal is of 1348 days. It is not a delay of a couple of months which can be easily condoned. In the entire application, it is not mentioned as to what was the advice given by his counsel of the lower court. Without having come to know the advice given by the counsel of the appellant, it cannot be said that the same was improper.

The negligence or the wrong advice, whatever it may be called, on the part of counsel for the appellant in the lower court, had been overcome by the appellant in the month of August 2008. On 14.08.2008 he obtained a copy of the award. Thereafter he would have come to know that his claim petition stands dismissed and he could not have been beguiled in any manner by anyone against not filing the appeal thereafter in a short time.

The delay appears to be intentional and deliberate at least after 14.08.2008 when he got a copy of the award. The appeal has been filed thereafter on 13.01.2012 and there is no explanation for the same.

In the absence of sufficient cause shown by the appellant for the delay of 1348 days in filing the appeal, the same cannot be condoned. Therefore, the application is dismissed. The appeal being barred by limitation, is dismissed as such.