C S ANANDAN, VADASSERITHEKKETHIL Vs. VIJAYAKUMARI W/O GOPINATHAN NAIR; SANIL KUMAR S/O GOPINATHAN NAIR; SASEENDRA BABU S/O SUKUMARAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The writ petitioner is the appellant. He was the claimant in O.P.(M.V) No.2042/1994, on the files of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Kollam. Owing to the absence of the petitioner and his counsel repeatedly, the above O.P was dismissed for default on 2.12.2000. Later, on 2.9.2004 an application for restoration of the same was filed. Since there was a delay of 1337 days in filing the application, Ext.P3 petition to condone the said delay was also filed. The Tribunal considered the reasons given for the delay and rejected Ext.P3 by Ext.P4 order.

(2.) We went through the affidavit filed in support of Ext.P3 petition to condone the delay. We find that no proper explanation is given for the long delay of 1337 days in filing the application for restoration. The only reason given was that the claimant was laid up with arthritis and after he was cured, he enquired about the fate of the case and came to know of the same. The facts would show that after filing the O.P in 1994, he has chosen to take interest in the matter only in 2004. So, the Tribunal rightly dismissed the petition for condonation of delay. Exercising the power of judicial review, we find that no ground has been made out to interfere with the same. So, the learned Single Judge rightly dismissed the Writ Petition.