(1.) The miscellaneous petition is filed to condone the enormous delay of 666 days in filing the appeal suit challenging the judgment and decree passed in O.S.No.11974 of 2010.
(2.) The petitioners are the Superintending Engineer and the Divisional Engineer, Highways Department. The petitioners/appellants made a submission that the suit was instituted for claiming damages, which was decreed in favour of the respondents. Thus, the Department is constrained to prefer the suit with a delay.
(3.) The affidavit filed in support of the miscellaneous petition reveals certain facts, and with reference to the pleadings in the suit and as far as the reasons to condone the delay are concerned, the same is set out in paragraph No.12 of the affidavit. In the said paragraph No.12, the petitioners state that the suit was decreed and judgment was delivered on 29.10.2013. The petitioners state that the decree order has not been received by the Office of the petitioners upto 10.06.2015. Only, E.P. Notice was received on 11.06.2015. Immediately, the petitioners have approached the Government Pleader who appeared before the Court below in this matter. They have informed that no decree order copy was applied in the lower Court within the stipulated time and advised that the connected Court bundle was sent to the High Court, Chennai. Thereafter, the petitioners approached the High Court Government Pleader on 15.06.2015 and the copy application was made on 18.06.2015, on the file of this Court. The Government Order was made ready on 02.07.2015 and the same was delivered on 03.07.2015, and thereafter, the present appeal suit was filed on 22.12.2015.