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Civil Appeal No. 1166 of 2006. Case: Balwant Singh (Dead) Vs Jagdish Singh and Ors.. Supreme Court (India)

Judgment Cited in 33 Precedent Map Related
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Case NumberCivil Appeal No. 1166 of 2006
JudgesB.S. Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar, JJ.
IssueHaryana Urban Rent (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973 - Section 15; Limitation Act, 1962 - Sections 3, 5; Civil Procedure Code (CPC) - Section 151 - Order 22, Rules 1, 3, 9, 9(2), 9(3)
Citation2010 (262) ELT 50 (SC), JT 2010 (7) SC 398, 2010 (6) SCALE 749, AIR 2010 SCW 4848, 2010 (8) SCC 685, AIR 2010 SC 3043, 2010 (8) SCR 597
Judgement DateJuly 08, 2010
CourtSupreme Court (India)

Judgment:

Swatanter Kumar, J.

  1. The Learned Single Judge of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh vide its Judgment dated 21st May, 2003 set aside the concurrent Judgment passed by the Appellate Authority, Ambala, dated 11th December, 2001 and that of the Rent Controller dated 27th September, 2000, passing an order of ejectment against the respondents in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 15 of the Haryana Urban Rent (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973 (for short 'the Act'). The petition had been instituted by the landlord against the tenant on the ground of non-payment of rent. The tenant had denied the relationship of landlord and tenant and even claimed title to the said property on the basis of an agreement dated 21st November, 1953 entered into between the predecessor in interest of the petitioner. The ground taken for ejectment of the tenant in the eviction petition was non- payment of rent which was only Rs. 200/- per month. As already noticed, the judgment of the Appellate Authority was set aside by the High Court vide its judgment dated 21st May, 2003 and it is this judgment of the High Court which has been assailed by way of a Special Leave Petition before this Court. The leave to appeal was granted by the Court vide order dated 13th February, 2006.

  2. During the pendency of the appeal on 28th November, 2007, the sole petitioner died. From the record, it appears that no steps were taken to bring on record the legal representatives of the deceased appellant for a considerable period of time on record. Somewhere on 15th April, 2010, I.A. No. 1 of 2010 has been filed along with I.A. No. 2 of 2010 praying for condonation of delay in filing the application for bringing the legal heirs on record. As is evident from the above narrated facts, the appellant died on 28th November, 2007 while the present applications have been filed on or about 15th April, 2010. Thus, there is delay of 778 days in filing these applications. The application for condonation of delay was seriously contested on behalf of the non-applicants. It was argued that no sufficient cause or even a reasonable cause has been shown for condoning the delay of more than two years and the appeal has already abated. The application, besides being vague at the face of it, contains untrue averments. As such, it is prayed that the application should be dismissed and consequently, the appeal would not survive for consideration.

  3. Firstly, we have to deal with I.A. No. 2 of 2010, which is an application for condonation of delay in filing the application for bringing the legal representatives on record. The Learned Counsel appearing for the applicant stated that though no specific provision had been stated in the headings of any of the applications, I.A. No. 1 of 2010 should be treated as an application under Order 22 Rule 3 read with Section 151, of Code of Civil Procedure (hereinafter referred to as 'CPC') while I.A. No. 2 of 2010 should be treated as an application under Order 22 Rule 9 read with Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1962.

  4. At the very outset, we may notice that the delay in filing the application I.A. No. 1 of 2010 is considerable and it cannot be disputed that the onus to show that sufficient cause exists for condonation of delay lies upon the applicant.

  5. It is obligatory upon the applicant to show sufficient cause due to which he was prevented from continuing to prosecute the proceedings in the suit or before the higher Court. Here there is admittedly, a delay of 778 days in filing the application for bringing the legal representative on record. To explain this delay, the applicant has filed a one page application stating that they were not aware of the pendency of the appeal before the Court and came to know, only in March, 2010 from their counsel that the case would be listed for final disposal during the vacations in May, 2010. Then the applications, as already noticed, were filed on 15th April, 2010. In order to examine the reliability and worthiness of the alleged sufficient cause for condonation of delay, it will be appropriate to refer to paragraph 2 of the application which is the only relevant paragraph out of the four paragraph application:

    That the LRs. of the applicants are residing on different addresses because the LRs. of the appellant/deceased are in service and they were not aware of the pendency of any appeal before this Hon'ble Court. However, when the letter from the counsel for Sh. Balwant Singh were received at home at Ambala that the appeal is being listed for final hearing during vacation in the month of May, 2010 then these LRs. came to know about the pendency of the appeal. Thereafter these LRs. contacted the counsel in the month of March, 2010 to find out the position of the case. When they contacted the counsel at New Delhi these LRs. the counsel was told about the death of Sh. Balwant Singh which had taken place in November, 2007. It was further pointed out to the counsel that the LRs. were not aware about the pendency of the appeal in this Court or about the requirement of law to bring the LRs. on record after the death of Balwant Singh. It is now they have come to know that the LRs. of Balwant Singh are required to be brought on record otherwise the appeal would abate.

  6. It is clear from the bare reading of the above paragraph that the applicants were totally callous about pursuing their appeal. They have acted irresponsibly and even with negligence. Besides this, they have not approached the Court with clean hands. The applicant, who seeks aid of the Court for exercising its discretionary power for condoning the delay, is expected to state correct facts and not state lies before the Court. Approaching the Court with unclean hands itself, is a ground for rejection of such application. In para 2 of the I.A. No. 1 of 2010, it has been shown that all the legal representatives of the deceased are residents of 9050/5, Naya Bas, Ambala City, (Haryana) and that there are no other legal heirs of the deceased. However, in para 4 of the I.A. No. 2 of 2010, it has been stated that the LRs. of the deceased were in service and were not aware of the pendency of the appeal, implying that they were living at different places and the letter of the lawyer was received at their residential address of Ambala. The stand taken in one application contradicts the stand taken in the other application. Furthermore, it is stated that they were not aware of the pendency of the appeal. This, again, does not appear to be correct inasmuch as one of the legal representatives of the deceased, namely Har-Inder Singh was examined in the Trial Court as AW4, who is the son of the deceased. It is difficult for the Court to believe that the person who has been examined as a witness did not even take steps to find out the proceedings pending before the highest Court of the land. Even the letter, alleged to have been written by the counsel, has not been placed on record and the application ex facie lacks bona fide. There is no explanation on record as to why the application was not filed immediately in March 2010, as they had come to know that the appeal was to be listed for hearing in the month of May, and still, till 15th April, 2010, no steps were taken to file the application. The cumulative effect of the above conduct of the legal representatives of the sole deceased, appellant clearly shows that they have acted with callousness, irresponsibly and have not even stated true facts in the application for condonation of delay. The approach and conduct of the applicants certainly would invite criticism. Moreover, it will be difficult for the Court to exercise its discretionary power in favour of the applicants. There is not even a whisper in the entire application as to why, right from the death of the deceased in November, 2007, the appellant did not take any steps whatsoever till 15th April, 2010 to inform their counsel about the death of the deceased and to bring the legal representatives on record.

  7. The counsel appearing for the applicant, while relying upon the judgment of this Court in the case of Ram Sumiran v. D.D.C. (1985) 1 SCC 431...

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