Pragati Construction Throug Its Partner Govind Gynoba Makhane vs. The Union Of INDIA Through Its Secretary And Others

Held

The Court decided to condone the delay of not more than 44 days in filing the appeals. The Court noted that the delay was not substantial and that the respondents had not raised any serious objections. While the revenue relied on several Supreme Court and High Court judgments to argue against condonation, the Court found that the delay was justifiable under the circumstances. The Court's reasoning was primarily based on the short duration of the delay and the absence of significant opposition from the revenue. The ratio decidendi is that a short delay, especially when not seriously contested by the opposing party, can be condoned by the High Court in its writ jurisdiction. The operative direction was to allow the Civil Applications, thereby condoning the delay and permitting the main appeals to be heard.

Facts

Pragati Construction, through its partner Govind Gynoba Makhane, filed Civil Applications (Nos. 12233 of 2025 and 12290 of 2025) seeking condonation of delay in filing RAST/30615/2025 and RAST/30607/2025, respectively. The applications were filed before the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Bench at Aurangabad. The delay in filing the main appeals was stated to be not more than 44 days. The respondents, Union of India through its Secretary and others, did not raise any serious objection to the delay condonation applications.

Key Issues

1. Whether the delay of not more than 44 days in filing the main appeals (RAST/30615/2025 and RAST/30607/2025) should be condoned, considering the facts and circumstances. Petitioner's Argument: The petitioner argued that the delay was minimal (not exceeding 44 days) and that there were no serious objections from the respondents, implying that condonation was appropriate. Revenue's Argument: The learned Advocate for Respondent No.1 relied upon several judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court and High Courts to support the rejection of the present applications. These judgments included Pathapati Subba Reddy (Died) by L.Rs. Vs. The Special Deputy Collector (LA), Geeta Rath Vs. State of Odisha & Ors., Board of Control For Cricket, India Vs. Netaji Cricket Club, M/s. Lala Shivnath Rai Sumerchand Confectioner Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Additional Commissioner, CGST Delhi-West, New Delhi, Thungabhadra Industries Ltd. Vs. The Government of Andhra Pradesh, TVL Sri Ramakrishna Agencies Vs. The Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, and S. Murali Sundaram Vs. Jothibai Kannan & Ors.