RAGHAVAN NAYAR Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner was a Water Works Inspector in the service of the Government of Travancore-Cochin. He was dismissed from service and the validity of the order of dismissal is challenged by this petition.

(2.) It is clear from the file that the final order of the Government dismissing the petition is Order L. Dis.No. 249/53-PWC dated the 30th September 1954 and there is no clear evidence as to when that order was served on the petitioner. In view of this and the other proved circumstances of the case we are not prepared to accept the learned Government Pleaders contention that this petition which was filed on 4.2.55 should be dismissed on the ground of laches on the part of the petitioner in seeking his remedy under Art.226 of the Constitution.

(3.) A time lag that can be explained does not spell laches. Laches is such negligence or omission to assert a right as, taken in conjunction with the lapse of time, more or less great, and other circumstances causing prejudice to an adverse party, operates as a bar in a court of equity. (Ferris, Extraordinary Legal Remedies, Paragraph 176).