THE BRANCH MANGER, NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED GANGTOK BRANCH, NH 31 Vs. MR. OM. PRAKESH CHETTRI, AGED 43 YEARS, S/O INDRA BAHADUR CHETTRI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The instant Appeal has been preferred against the Judgment and Award dated 31-03-2016, passed by the Learned Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, South Sikkim at Namchi, in MACT Case No. 07 of 2015, directing the Appellant Company/Opposite Party No. 3, to pay Rs.10,35,000.00 (Rupees ten lakhs, thirty five thousand) only, with interest @ 9% per annum, to the Respondents No. 1 to 2/Claimants, from the date of filing of the Claim Petition till final realisation.

(2.) The Appeal is accompanied by an Application under the proviso to Sec. 173(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, read with Sec. 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963, seeking condonation of delay of 66 days. The grounds for delay as made out by the Appellant are that, the impugned Judgment and Award was passed on 31-03-2016 and the Appeal ought to have been presented before 29-06-2016. That, the copy of the impugned Judgment received on 06-05-2016 was delivered to the Branch Office at Gangtok from where it was sent to the Divisional Office at Siliguri, West Bengal. Thereafter, the Divisional Office in turn forwarded the case file along with the impugned Judgment and Award to their Regional Office at Kolkata, which approved the proposal to prefer an Appeal before the High Court. That, consideration may be extended to the fact that the Appellant Company is a Central Government Undertaking which, therefore, results in procedural delays. On receipt of the papers, the Counsel took some time to prepare an Appeal and hence, the delay of 66 days.

(3.) Per contra, it was vehemently contended by Learned Counsel for the Respondents No. 1 and 2 that no sufficient grounds have been put forth for condoning the delay, merely stating that, the file moved from one Office to the next, does not tantamount to sufficient delay and the Application requires no consideration and be rejected.