2026:UHC:2521 SL. No. Date Office Notes, reports, orders or proceedings or directions and Registrar’s order with Signatures COURT’S OR JUDGE’S ORDERS C528 No.551 of 2026 Hon’ble Alok Mahra, J. Mr. Kailash Chandra, Advocate for the applicant. Mr. S.C. Dumka, A.G.A. for the State of Uttarakhand. 2. The present application has been instituted by the applicant seeking quashing of the order dated 25.02.2026 passed by the learned IVth Additional Sessions Judge, Haridwar in Criminal Revision No. 201 of 2024. 3. It is the case of the applicant that her marriage with Bhimsen Pahwa was solemnized in the year 1996 in accordance with Hindu rites and rituals, and two daughters were born out of the said wedlock. Allegations have been levelled regarding mental and physical cruelty at the hands of her husband and in-laws. A complaint case was accordingly instituted, wherein the learned Judicial Magistrate, Haridwar, vide order dated 09.08.2012, summoned only the husband for offences punishable under Sections 406, 452, 323, 504 and 506 I.P.C. The said order admittedly remained unchallenged within the prescribed period of limitation. After an inordinate delay of 4311 days, the applicant preferred a criminal revision in the year 2024 along with an application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act seeking condonation of delay. Learned IVth Additional Sessions Judge, Haridwar, after issuing notice, ultimately rejected the application for condonation 2026:UHC:2521 of delay vide order dated 25.02.2026. Hence, this criminal misc. application. 4. The contention of the learned counsel for the applicant that the delay ought to have been condoned on account of the applicant being a poor, undereducated woman lacking proper legal advice, and that the absence of objections from the respondents should have weighed in her favour, does not merit acceptance. The delay in the present case is not marginal but extraordinarily long, spanning more than eleven years. It is well settled that while a liberal approach may be adopted in considering applications for condonation of delay, such discretion cannot be exercised in a routine or mechanical manner, particularly where the delay is gross and remains insufficiently explained. The explanation furnished by the applicant is vague and general in nature, lacking material particulars or any cogent justification for each day’s delay. Mere assertions of poverty, lack of education, or absence of legal advice, without substantiating circumstances, cannot be treated as sufficient cause to condone such an inordinate delay. The applicant has failed to demonstrate that she was pursuing her remedy with due diligence or that the delay was occasioned by circumstances beyond her control. Further, the fact that the respondents did not file objections to the application for condonation of delay does not, by itself, entitle the applicant to such relief. The Court is duty-bound to independently assess whether sufficient cause has been made out, irrespective of the stand of the opposite party. 5. It is also pertinent that the original 2026:UHC:2521 summoning order dates back to the year 2012, and during the pendency of the proceedings, the husband and in-laws of the applicant have already expired. Entertaining the revision at such a belated stage would not only defeat the settled principles of finality of proceedings but would also serve no useful purpose. 6. In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, this Court does not find any illegality, perversity, or jurisdictional error in the impugned order dated 25.02.2026 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Haridwar rejecting the application for condonation of delay. The present criminal miscellaneous application, being devoid of merit, is accordingly dismissed. (Alok Mahra, J.) 08.04.2026 Arpan ARPAN JAISWAL Digitally signed by ARPAN JAISWAL DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=eabb68a3895e41937c266c23964c0485365445e 3a20dddb7393398f9fe45ba3e, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=060FC17022BEAE3DE215D68D9D454C510 9CB987446351E4DF04AADAA2C2CEA66, cn=ARPAN JAISWAL Date: 2026.04.09 10:05:03 +05'30'