(1.) By way present appeal, present appellant - original applicant has challenged the judgment and order dtd. 16/3/2022 passed by learned 5th Additional District Judge, Surendranagar, below Exh. 20 in Civil Misc. Application No. 34 of 2020, by which, the application filed by present appellant to condone the delay of 672 days in filing an application under Sec. 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act , 1996 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act' for short).
(2.) In response to notice issued by this Court, the respondent has appeared through Mr. Paras Sukhwani learned advocate and opposed this appeal by filing affidavit-in-reply.
(3.) Short facts arise from the record are as under: