LI Network
Published on: 02 October, 2023 at 14:31 IST
The Orissa High Court has reaffirmed that litigants must maintain vigilance and diligence in pursuing their cases. The court rejected a restoration application after a delay of 1391 days, emphasizing that blaming a previous advocate for negligence is not sufficient cause for delays.
The case, titled Shankarlal Patwari v. Jagannath Mahaprabhu & Ors, revolved around a petition seeking condonation of a significant delay in filing a restoration application. The original writ petition had been dismissed due to the petitioner’s failure to submit required documents within the specified timeframe for issuing notices to opposing parties.
Also Read: Ethics for an Advocate – Law Insider India
The petitioner argued that the delay was due to a communication gap with the initial advocate and lack of awareness about the court’s order. However, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Subhasis Talapatra and Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo rejected this reasoning.
The court highlighted that it’s easy to change lawyers and put blame on the previous advocate but the court cannot ignore the party’s conduct and circumstances surrounding the case.
Advocate Ajit Kumar Tripathy represented the petitioner, while Advocate Subrat Satpathy represented the opposing parties. The petitioner had claimed unawareness of the court’s order issued in 2006 until 2019, at which point he engaged new counsel and filed the restoration application. The opposing party argued that the delay was unjustified, stressing the strict application of the law of limitation.
The court questioned why no action had been taken against the negligent advocate, who was a designated Senior Advocate of the court. Despite multiple court orders, the petitioner failed to act promptly, demonstrating carelessness in pursuing the case. The court found the petitioner’s explanation for the delay lacking and deemed the delay inordinate and not justifiable.
In the light of these considerations, the Orissa High Court dismissed the interim application for condonation of delay, resulting in the rejection of the restoration application.