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Judgment
NAJMI WAZIRI, J. (ORAL)
The hearing has been conducted through hybrid mode (physical and virtual hearing).
CM APPL. 5951/2023 (fresh by appellant for condonation of delay of 142 days in filing the present appeal)
By way of the present application and supporting additional affidavit, the applicant/appellant submits that the appeal is delayed by 142 days. It says that the delay is not deliberate. The delay sought to be explained as under:-
| Sr. No | Date | Proceedings |
| 1. | 01/04/2019 | Vijaya Bank merged with Bank of Baroda |
| 2. | 15/03/2020 to 28/02/2022 | Supreme court condoned the outbreak period of covid -19 (15/03/2020 TO 28/02/2022 ) |
| 3. | 01/03/2022 to 29/05/202 | Limitation period was further Extended by Supreme Court of India |
| 4. | 18/02/2021 | Judgement Passed in favour of M/s Aggarwal Agencies Pvt. Ltd. (Respondent) |
| 5. | 30/05/2022 to 06/10/2022 | No File & No Information regarding Judgement and Decree |
| 6. | 07/10/2022 | Appellant on received the show cause notice from the Court |
| 7. | 07/10/2022 | Branch referred the matter to its Regional office for preferring an appeal against Judgement & Decree Dated 18/02/2021 |
| 8. | 15/10/2022 | Regional office has referred the Branch letter of Appeal to Zonal office |
| 9. | 17/10/2022 | Zonal office has given permission to prefer an appeal against the Judgement & Decree |
| 10. | 19/10/2022 | Appeal was Filed. |
The learned counsel for the applicant says that: i) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the normal attendance of staff in the Bank was affected, ii) the Bank had no knowledge of the impugned order passed on 18.02.2021; and iii) under the orders of the Supreme Court in Re:Cognizance for Extension of Limitation in Suo Motu Writ Petition (C) No. 3/2020 dated 10.01.2022, the computation for limitation was suspended from 15.03.2020 till 28.02.2022.
The learned counsel for the applicant submits that the delay of only 142 days has to be explained, if the Covid-related delay period is excluded under the aforementioned orders of the Supreme Court. The applicant is a large corporate body, with an all India footprint and a host of lawyers and senior managers to assist and advise it apropos legal matters. The argument of the applicant to say that they had no knowledge of the case is untenable because Vijaya Bank, i.e., the defendant in the suit, has merged with Bank of Baroda and the due diligence exercise is deemed to have been carried out, therefore, there would be knowledge of the impugned order. The basis for condonation of delay of 142 days is not made out.
Therefore, the application is dismissed. As a consequence thereof, the appeal alongwith pending applications, if any, is dismissed as not maintainable.