NT Reporter
Panaji
Pushing for procedural efficiency, the High Court of Bombay at Goa has directed that applications for condonation of delay and applications for restoration of proceedings should ideally be registered and decided simultaneously to avoid unnecessary delays in judicial proceedings.
Application for condonation of delay pertains to asking the court to excuse the late filing, while application for restoration seeks to restore or revive the case.
The High Court directed the Registrar (Judicial) to forward the judgment to the Principal District Judges of North and South Goa and to circulate the contents and directions contained in paragraph 18 of the judgment to all courts subordinate to the District Court, ensuring strict compliance.
The observations were made while dealing with a petition raising objections to the execution of a money decree. The High Court said that in several cases, civil courts and district courts grant applications for condonation of delay but defer orders on restoration applications to a later date.
Justice Valmiki Menezes observed that if an application for condonation of delay is dismissed, the application for restoration must necessarily fail. Conversely, if the delay is condoned, the restoration application should be decided immediately on the same day instead of being kept pending.
The court reiterated that registering and deciding both applications together would prevent avoidable procedural delays and improve judicial efficiency.
