Condonation of Delay and Assurance of Justice: An overview

Abstract

Law of Limitation is based on the legal maxim “Interest Reipublicae Ut Sit Finis Litium” that means it is for the general rule of the welfare that a period be put to litigation. It is a general principle of law that law is made to protect only diligent and vigilant people but not the indolent. Law will not protect those people who are careless about their rights. The Law of Limitation prescribes the time-limit for different suits within which an aggrieved person can approach the court for redress or justice. The suit, if filed after the exploration of time-limit, is struck by the law of limitation. The concept is that every legal remedy must be kept alive for a legislatively fixed period of time. While condoning the delay, the court should not forget the opposite party altogether. It must be borne in mind that he is a loser and he too would have incurred quite large litigation expenses. This article mainly focuses on the fact that how section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1908 saves the rights and interests of the litigants who have failed to file the proceedings within the prescribed period of limitation. In this paper efforts have been made to examine the factors or causes which may be shown as sufficient causes to satisfy the court for condoning the delay and which unable the applicant to approach before the court within the statutory period. It has also been tried to develop a comprehensive idea for understanding the fact that condonation of delay is a matter of discretion of the court and no one can claim it as of right.

Keywords: Sufficient Cause, Discretion of the Court, Negligence, Explanation of delay, Government.