Interim Order 5

Order Details: COPY OF JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS
Pdf Text: CA / 2/2026
M/S S H HEALTH SANCTUARY PVT LTD AND ANR Vs. THE
STATE OF NCT OF DELHI
21.02.2026
Present: Sh. Chirantan Saha, Ld. Counsel for appellant along
with the appellant.
Sh. Subhash Chandra and Sh. Utsav Singh, Ld.
Counsel for respondent / complainant.
This order shall dispose of an application for
condonation of delay of around 35 days in filing the present appeal.
The application is contested by the respondent.
Ld. Counsel for the applicant / appellant submits that the
present appeal has been filed against judgment dated 22.09.2025 and
order on sentence dated 15.10.2025; the previous Counsel for the
appellant had referred the appellant to the present Counsel; the present
Counsel of the appellant had suffered from cerebral stroke and was
thus, unable to draft the present appeal within time; the delay is
neither wilful nor deliberate and hence, the delay of around 35 days in
filing the present appeal be condoned.
Ld. Counsel for the respondent, on the other hand,
submitted that the medical documents placed on record by the Ld.
Counsel for the applicant / appellant pertain to the year 2024 and the
said documents nowhere showed that the Ld. Counsel for the
appellant was unable to work due to the ailment; the appellant has not
explained each day’s delay and thus, the application is liable to be
dismissed.
I have considered the rival submissions and have gone
through the case file.
Vide judgment dated 22.09.2025, the appellant was
convicted for commission of offence u/s 138 of the NI Act. Vide order
on sentence dated 15.10.2025, he was sentenced to undergo SI for four
months and to pay composite fine of Rs.5,50,000/-, failing which the
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convict was to undergo further SI for three months. The present appeal
was e-filed on 31.12.2025. Thus, there is a delay of around 45 days.
Ld. Counsel for the appellant has placed on record
photocopies of medical documents which reflect that he was taking
treatment from AIIMS, New Delhi; even though the said documents
pertained to the year 2024 but there is no reason to disbelieve the
submissions that due to the ailment, Ld. Counsel for the appellant was
not able to draft the present appeal within time; the appellant was not
going to be benefitted by filing the appeal belatedly. The Hon’ble
Supreme Court in Pawan Kumar Ralli v. Maninder Singh Narula,
(2014) 15 SCC 245 has held that the remedy of condonation of delay
is provided to enable a genuine litigant to pursue his case by
overcoming the technical difficulty of limitation. In a number of cases,
the Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that the expression “sufficient
cause” is to be interpreted in a meaningful manner which serve the
ends of justice and the expression “each day’s delay” does not mean
that a pedentic approach is to be adopted.
No prejudice will be caused to the respondent if delay in
the present case is condoned.
Accordingly, the delay of 45 days in filing the present
appeal is condoned.
The application is disposed off accordingly.
Put up for further proceedings on 24.02.2026.
(Nishant Garg)
ASJ-06 (Central),
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi
21.02.2026
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