Sri Mohinder Sahani v. The Reliance General Insurance Co Ltd and 11 Ors

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010142162020 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oI.A.(Civil)/1670/2020o SRIoMOHINDERoSAHANIo S/O-oLATEoRUPALoSAHANI,oR/O-oDHEKIAJULI,oMOUZA-oDHEKIAJULI,oDIST.- SONITPUR,oASSAM. VERSUSo THEoRELIANCEoGENERALoINSURANCEoCOoLTDoANDo11oORSo HAVINGoITSoREGISTEREDoOFFICEoATo3RDoFLOOR,oMAKERoCHAMBERSoIV,o NARIMANoPOINT,oMUMBAI-o400021oANDoONEoOFoITSoBRANCHoOFFICEoATo TEZPUR,oREP.oBYoTHEoBRANCHoMANAGER,oRELIANCEoGENERALo INSURANCEoCO.oLTD.oTEZPURoBRANCH,oTEZPUR,oDIST.-oSONITPUR,o ASSAM. 2:MUSST.oATABJANoBIBI oW/O-oLATEoRUSTAMoALI 3:MUSST.oFATEMAoKHATUN oW/O-oLATEoRUSTAMoALI 4:MD.oAINULoISLAM oS/O-oLATEoRUSTAMoALI 5:MD.oMAINULoISLAM oS/O-oLATEoRUSTAMoALI 6:MD.oSAIFULoISLAM oS/O-oLATEoRUSTAMoALI 7:MD.oRAFIQULoISLAM oS/O-oLATEoRUSTAMoALI 8:MD.oMANNASoALIo(MINOR) PageoNo.#o2/3 oS/O-oLATEoRUSTAMoALI 9:MD.oRAMJANoALIo(MINOR) oS/O-oLATEoRUSTAMoALI 10:MUSST.oSULEMAoKHATUN oD/O-oLATEoRUSTAMoALI 11:MUSST.oPHULESAoKHATUN oD/O-oLATEoRUSTAMoALI oRES.oNO.o2oTOo11oAREoRESIDENToOFoVILL.-oPALASBASTIoPATHAR oP.O.oBHOTPARA oP.S.oDHEKIAJULI oMOUZA-oBORSOLA oDIST.-oSONITPUR oASSAMoANDoRESoNO.o8oANDo9oBEINGoMINOR oREP.oBYoTHEIRoMOTHERoRESoNO.o2. 12:DANDIoRAMoBORO oS/O-oK.oBORO oVILL.ANDoP.O.oKEHERUKHANDA oMOUZA-oBORSOLA oDIST.-oSONITPUR oASSAMo AdvocateoforotheoPetitionerooooo:oMR.oSoCoBISWASo AdvocateoforotheoRespondento:oMD.oIoHUSSAINoo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ::kBEFOREk::k HON'BLEkMR.kJUSTICEkPARTHIVJYOTIkSAIKIA kOkkkRkkkDkkkEkkkR o

09.05.2024 o Heard Mr. S.C. Biswas, the learned counsel appearing for the applicant as well as Mr. I. Hussain, the learned counsel representing the opposite party.

2.ooooooooo This is an application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act praying for Page No.# 3/3 condonation of 74 days of delay in preferring the appeal.

¶3On 03.11.2014 in MAC Case No.448/2008, the MAC Tribunal at Sonitpur passed a judgment directing the present applicant to pay the compensation. Thereafter, the applicant filed an appeal before this Court praying that the Tribunal should have directed the Insurance Company to pay the compensation. The connected appeal was filed on 05.05.2015 along with an Interlocutory Application praying for condonation of 74 days of delay.

¶4It has been submitted that though the appeal was filed after a delay of 74 days, the cheque of ₹25,000/- which was deposited by the applicant/appellant, as statutory deposit, became untraceable in the office. Therefore, the applicant/appellant had to file another cheque worth ₹25,000/-. On deposit of this fresh cheque, the instant Interlocutory Application was registered on 07.10.2020. The applicant claims that he is not responsible for this delay.

¶5The learned counsel Mr. Hussain has submitted that irrespective of whatever happened in the office of this Court, the claimant is waiting for the last 10 years to receive the compensation amount.

¶6I have considered the submissions made by the learned counsel of both sides.

¶7I am of the considered opinion that the delay of 74 days has been satisfactorily explained by the applicant. It is unfortunate that the statutory deposit cheque was lost in our office and for that matter, the applicant had to deposit another cheque to have this Interlocutory Application registered.

¶8Under the aforesaid circumstances, the delay of 74 days is condoned. The connected MAC Appeal shall be registered and listed for Admission hearing on

22.05.2024.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant