(Per : HONOURABLE THE ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE MR.BHASKAR BHATTACHARYA) All these applications were taken up together.
In these applications, the appellant has prayed for condonation of about 3 years delay in preferring the appeals.
After hearing the learned counsel for the parties and after going through the materials on record, we find that there is no doubt that some wrong statements were made in the applications for condonation of delay which has subsequently been explained by way of supplementary affidavit. After taking into consideration the fact that the appellant is a Corporation and the litigations are filed on the basis of information received from different departments of the said Corporation, we are satisfied that there was some communication gap while giving instruction to the learned advocate for preferring these applications for condonation of delay.
Although Mr Patel appearing on behalf of the claimants-respondents strenuously contended before us by relying upon the decision of the Supreme court in the case of Oriental Aroma Chemical Industries Ltd. vs. Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation and another reported in (2010) 5 SCC 459 that we should follow the principle laid down in the said decision, after going through the said decision, we find that in the said case the Supreme Court came to the conclusion that there was deliberate false statement made in the said application for condonation of delay. In the case before us, we have already indicated that due to communication gap wrong statement was made in the original applications, which has been subsequently explained by way of supplementary affidavit. We are, therefore, not prepared to treat the same as a case of "deliberate false statement" and thus, the principle laid down in the case of Oriental Aroma Chemical Industries Ltd. (supra) has no application to the facts of the present case.
Taking into consideration the entire materials on record, we are of the view that the delay in filing the appeals should be condoned provided the appellant pays costs of Rs.20,000/- in each of these appeals to be payable to the claimants. We accordingly allow these applications provided the appellant pays costs of Rs.20,000/- in each of the appeals to the claimants within a period of fortnight from today. In default of making payment of costs to the claimants within the aforesaid period, these applications will stand dismissed.
(BHASKAR BHATTACHARYA, ACTING CJ.) (J.B.
PARDIWALA, J.) zgs/-
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