Ajay Kumar Singh vs The State of Bihar and Others

This Interlocutory Application bearing I.A. No. 1882 of 2006 has been filed for condoning the delay in filing the restoration application, which is time barred by 850 days.

The reason which has been stated in the petition for condonation of delay indicates that the matter stood dismissed in default and the petitioner was not aware of the dismissal of the writ petition since the writ application had been transferred to the State of Jharkhand after its creation in the year 2000.

It has been stated in the application for restoration (C.M.P. No. 324 of 2006), which will have to be treated as a cause for condonation of delay also on the ground that when the State of Bihar was divided and the State of Jharkhand came into existence, the petitioner had come to Ranchi for other purpose, when he gathered that the writ petition has been dismissed.

The cause shown in the application for restoration and the reasons stated in the application for condonation of delay can hardly be treated to be a sufficient cause of action for condonation of delay much less entertaining the application for restoration, yet in the interest of justice, we thought it just and appropriate to condone the delay and restore the matter by allowing the restoration application merely to obviate miscarriage of justice in any mariner in so far as the merit of the matter is concerned. For this purpose, we thought it appropriate to grant an opportunity of hearing to the counsel of the petitioner to address this Court on the merit of the matter, so as to infer as to whether any injustice would be caused to the petitioner in case the application for restoration on the ground of delay and for lack of sufficient cause is rejected.

The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is a teacher discharging duties in a minority Institution, which is run by the Arya Samaj and the Arya Samaj had been conferred minority status by a notification dated 5th December, 1967, as contained in Memo No. 42751-56. Thus the status of a minority on the Arya Samaj although had been conferred way back in the year 1967, the petitioner thought it appropriate to challenge the same after 22 years by filing a writ petition in the year 1989 and that too was allowed to be dismissed in default, obviously due to the laches on the part of the petitioner as he did not pursue the matter diligently. Thus the delay in challenging the same is now more than 40 years and this is indicated from the fact that after bifurcation of the State, he did not even care to ascertain the status of the writ petition, which was transferred to the Jharkhand High Court.

We are, therefore, of the view that even if we were to restore the writ application by condoning the delay in filing the same, no useful purpose would be served by entertaining the writ petition as challenge of conferment of minority status on Arya Samaj is highly a belated one and hence we do not propose to entertain this application for restoration by condoning the delay. Accordingly, the application for condonation of delay as also the restoration application is dismissed. Consequently, the dismissal of the writ petition (C.W.J.C. No. 9016 of 1989[P]) stands confirmed.