MUSSOORIE DEHRADUN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Vs. GURMEJ SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A Suit, being Suit No. 510 of 1996, Gurmej Singh Vs. MDDA, was instituted before the Court of learned Civil Judge (Senior Division)/FTC, Dehradun, for the grant of decree of permanent injunction, as against the process of recovery, which was resorted to, which was the subject matter therein. The suit, after the contest, by the defendant (petitioner herein), had been decreed by the judgement dtd. 25/8/2001 by the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division), Dehradun, and following decree has been rendered :-

(2.) Though, at this stage, this Court is not concerned with the merits of the decree, which was rendered by the learned trial Court in the aforesaid suit on 25/8/2001, for the reason being that as against the said judgment and decree, the petitioner herein had already preferred an Appeal, by invoking the provisions contained under Sec. 96 of CPC, by filing the same before the Court of learned Appellate Court on 16/4/2003, on the pretext that the knowledge of the said judgement / decree was acquired by him at a much belated stage on 6/3/2003.

(3.) The Appeal thus preferred by the petitioner on 16/4/2003, accompanied with it a delay condonation application, and in the delay condonation application, thus filed in support thereto, the reason which has been given by the petitioner was that the delay was on account of the fact that the counsel, who was representing their cause before the learned trial Court, had not informed the petitioner herein, about the decree dtd. 25/8/2001, and the knowledge of it could be acquired for the reasons as pleaded in para 10 of the delay condonation application, when the records of the suit was inspected by the petitioner after inducting a new counsel on 6/3/2020, and hence the petitioner, in the delay condonation application has pleaded bonafides on the pretext that since the knowledge of the judgement and decree was not given by his counsel, he could not prefer an Appeal within the time hence the delay has chanced in filing the Appeal.