HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD LUCKNOW SPECIAL APPEAL DEFECTIVE No. - 183 of 2022 Court No. - 1 HON'BLE RAJAN ROY, J. HON'BLE ZAFEER AHMAD, J. (Order on C.M.Application No.2 of 2022; Application for Condonation of Delay) 1. Heard. 2. This is an appeal by the State which has been filed on 14.09.2022 challenging the judgment and order dated 02.05.2019 passed in Writ Petition No.993 (S/S) of 2011. The period of limitation prescribed for filing an appeal under Chapter VIII Rule 5 of the Allahabad High Court Rules, 1952 is thirty days vide Chapter IX Rule 10 of the Rules, 1952 read with Article 117 of the Schedule appended to the Limitation Act, 1963 and the same having been expired prior to 15.03.2020 i.e. prior to onset of Covid-19 Pandemic, therefore, no benefit of the orders passed by Hon'ble the Supreme Court in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No.3 of 2020 can be extended to the appellants herein. 3. We have gone through the explanation offered for the delay in the light of the law declared by Hon'ble the Supreme Court in the case of Shivamma (Dead) by L.R.S. vs. Karnataka Housing Board and Another reported in 2025 SCC OnLine 1969 and do not find it to be satisfactory at all. There is no explanation for the delay from the period 03.05.2019 till 14.03.2020 i.e. the period prior to Covid-19 Pandemic. An advantage has been sought to be taken based on the subsequent Covid-19 period which Versus Counsel for Appellant(s) : C.S.C. Counsel for Respondent(s) : Girish Chandra Verma State Of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Secy. Medical And Health, U.P. Civil Secrt. U.P. Lko. And Others .....Appellant(s) Ram Kumar Maurya .....Respondent(s) shows lack of bonafide on the part of the appellants. The order impugned was passed prior to onset of Covid-19 Pandemic and the benefit of limitation even during the Covid-19 Pandemic is available only up to 28.02.2022 but this appeal has been filed even thereafter in September, 2022. We must point out that even during the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Allahabad High Court except for couple of months was operating physically and/or through video conferencing and the appeals were being filed but the appellants/State did not file it. The affidavit in support of the application for condonation of delay merely put forth lame excuses, in fact, it goes on to state that compliance of the judgment was made in January, 2022 itself and thereafter, a legal opinion was sought in the matter in August, 2022 and the appeal was filed in September, 2022 which was on account of contempt having been filed alleging absence of full compliance but this is hardly an explanation for filing an appeal belatedly. 4. In view of the aforesaid judgment of Hon'ble the Supreme Court in the case of Shivamma (Dead)(supra), the explanation is not satisfactory. The appellants have not been diligent and prompt in filing the appeal, accordingly, the application is rejected, consequently, the appeal is dismissed. November 20, 2025 -Piyush- SPLAD No. 183 of 2022 2 (Zafeer Ahmad,J.) (Rajan Roy,J.) Digitally signed by :- PIYUSH YADAV High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench