S. 261 : Appeal – Supreme Court -Limitation : Condonation of delay- Strictures-Departmental delay of 524 days-Unsatisfactory explanation-Internal procedural delays such as multiple scrutiny reports, repeated vetting and lack of timely direction for filing SLP held to be avoidable-However, considering that other matters on similar issue were already entertained, Supreme Court condoned the delay as a special case and directed tagging with Civil Appeal No. 1294 of 2015. [Art. 136]
In the case where the Department filed the SLP with a delay of 524 days, the Supreme Court noted that despite being aware of the impugned order, the Department undertook a prolonged internal process ,first calling for a scrutiny report, then a second scrutiny report, seeking explanations for the delay, sending papers to panel counsel for drafting, followed by three rounds of vetting, and again sending back the papers for drafting the delay-condonation application. The Court observed that no one in the Department took steps to shorten the process, despite having legal experts, and even appeared not to trust its own lawyers. Though the explanation for delay was found unsatisfactory, considering that other matters on similar issues had already been entertained, the Court condoned the delay as a special case, directed the matter to be tagged with Civil Appeal No. 1294 of 2015, and further directed that the order be communicated to the concerned Commissioner and higher authorities for corrective measures. (2025, SLP (Civil) Diary No. 33271/2025. Dt. 21-11-20025)
CIT (E) v. Hyderabad Cricket Association (SC) www.itatonline .org
[Coram : Hon’ble Mr. Justice Pankaj Mithal and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Prasanna B. Varale]