State of Gujarat and Anr. vs. Pravinkumar R. Patel
Background
The State of Gujarat had earlier lost at the stage of a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court in a dispute with Pravinkumar R. Patel. The State subsequently sought to have that outcome reviewed by filing a Review Petition, but did so 794 days after the permissible period had expired, requiring it to first seek condonation of that delay.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court examined the explanation offered by the State of Gujarat for the 794-day delay in filing the review petition and found it unsatisfactory. Because the delay was not adequately explained, the Court declined to condone it, and as a consequence dismissed the Review Petition on the ground of limitation alone, without going into the merits of whether the original decision deserved to be reviewed.
Lesson Learnt
Litigants, including government bodies, must file review petitions within the prescribed limitation period; an unexplained or poorly explained delay of this magnitude will result in the petition being dismissed on that technical ground alone, regardless of the merits.