Delay in Filing Appeal Cannot be Condoned on Grounds of Shortage of Funds to Pay Court Fees: Supreme Court

WHAT DID THE SC SAY?

• In Ajay Dabra v. Pyare Ram & Ors., the Apex Court noted that being short of money to pay the court fees is not a sufficient reason to condone the delay in filing of the appeal.
• A Division Bench consisting of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia also noted that this defect could have been removed by paying the remaining court fees within the given time and filing the appeal u/s 149 CPC.

 WHAT IS THE CASE ABOUT? 

• In this case, a suit for specific performance was filed in the trial court which was, in due course, dismissed.
• Later, an appeal was filed before the Himanchal Pradesh High Court which was also dismissed due to a delay of 254 days. 
• Subsequently, an appeal was filed against the decision of the HC on the grounds that the reason for the delay was shortage of funds to pay the court fee.

APPELLANT’S CONTENTIONS: 

• The contention of the appellant was that the delay in filing the appeal was not ignorance of law but lack of funds to pay the court fees.
• The appellant further contended that as soon as he arranged the funds to pay the court fees, he filed the appeal.

OBSERVATION OF THE COURT AND DECISION:

• The Ld. Court dismissed the appeal and noted that shortage of funds to pay the court fees is not a sufficient ground to condone the delay caused in filing the appeal.
• The Court further noted that the appellant could have filed the appeal u/s 149 CPC and paid the remaining amount of court fees within the time given by the permission of the court.
• Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed.

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