IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH LPA No.714 of 2019 (O&M) DATE OF DECISION: 18.07.2019 Haryana Urban Development Authority and another …..Appellants versus Joga Ram .....Respondent CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KRISHNA MURARI, CHIEF JUSTICE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN PALLI, JUDGE Present: Shri Arvind Seth, Advocate for the appellants .. KRISHNA MURARI, CHIEF JUSTICE: (Oral) This intra-Court appeal under clause-X of the Letters Patent is directed against the judgment and order dated 05.09.2018 passed by the learned single Judge allowing the writ petition filed by the respondent seeking regularisation. As per office report, the appeal is barred by delay and laches of 180 days. An application under section 5 of the Limitation Act has been made wherein delay has been sought to be explained by making the following averments:- “3. That the time period for filing the Letter Patent Appeal against the impugned judgment/order is 30 days. In the present case, limitation of filing the present LPA has been expired, therefore, applicants/appellants are PARKASH CHAND 2019.07.19 15:26 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document LPA-714-2019 - 2 - now filing the instant Civil Misc. Application for condonation of 180 days delay inter-alia on the following grounds:- i) That the applicants/appellants have received the copy of the impugned judgment/order dated 05.09.2018. ii) That after receiving the said copy of the judgment/order, and for taking the approval of the higher authority for filing the present LPA some time has occurred which is not intentional but a bonafide. iii) That thereafter, applicants/ appellants contacted the office of counsel and discussed the matter for filing the instant LPA. iv) That during the above said process, applicants/appellants could not file the present LPA within the prescribed time limit and now filing the present appeal after 180 days delay which occurred in official process. v) That the grounds taken in the accompanying LPA may kindly be read as part and parcel of this application. LPA-714-2019 - 3 - vi) That the delay occurred in filing the present LPA of 180 days is not intentional but a bondfide.” A perusal of the aforesaid averments clearly goes to show that no reasonable explanation has been given for the inordinate delay. The averments are not only absolutely vague but also do not inspire any confidence. Except for making bald averment that time was spent in taking approval of the higher authority for filing LPA, no details have been mentioned as to with whom the file was pending for approval and when the higher authority granted the approval. In the absence of said details, the explanation submitted does not constitute a sufficient cause so as to condone the delay. Accordingly, application under section 5 of the Limitation Act seeking condonation of inordinate delay of 180 days in filing the appeal stands dismissed and, as a result, the appeal stands dismissed as barred by limitation. (KRISHNA MURARI) CHIEF JUSTICE (ARUN PALLI) JUDGE 18.07.2019 parkash NOTE: Whether speaking/non-speaking: Speaking Whether reportable: YES/NO LPA-714-2019 - 4 -