Om Kumar v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Anr.

1. Exemption allowed subject to all just exceptions.

2. Application stands disposed of. W.P.(C) 16355/2024 & CM APPL. 69019/2024

3. Rule, returnable forthwith. With consent of parties, this petition is being finally disposed of.

4. This petition assails the order dated 30 August 2024 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal[1], whereby MA 3134/2024, for restoration of OA 547/2018, which was dismissed in default on 8 February 2023, has been dismissed.

5. The Tribunal has rejected the application on the ground that there was delay of one and half years in filing the application, for which the only reason adduced was for laxity on the part of the counsel who was prosecuting the matter.

6. We are of the opinion that in restoration applications, unless contumacious or repeated negligence in appearance is apparent, courts should be expansive in their approach. The right to legal remedies, and to agitate their claims in accordance with law, and seek an adjudication of their rights on merits, is fundamental.

7. This is not a case in which a specific, non-condonable period of limitation had been breached. The application merely sought restoration of the OA.

8. In the case of applications for restoration, an expansive approach is necessary. Even where the delay is considerable, the Court or Tribunal would be well advised, instead of rejecting the “the Tribunal” hereinafter application, to put the applicant to terms, so as to balance equities.

9. Accordingly, the impugned order is set aside. MA 3134/2024 filed before the Tribunal stands allowed. OA 547/2018 stands restored to the file of the Tribunal.

10. Let the OA be listed before the Tribunal on 11 December 2024 for further proceedings.

11. The writ petition stands allowed in the aforesaid terms.

C. HARI SHANKAR, J.