UNION OF INDIA vs CAMRUS ZAMAN GHAFUR PARIAT

The Supreme Court held that the condonation of delay under Section 5 of the Limitation Act is a discretionary power of the court, and the appellate court should not interfere with the exercise of this discretion by the court of first instance unless there are compelling reasons. In this case, the District Judge had validly condoned a delay of 447/523 days, and the High Court's interference was deemed inappropriate. The Court restored the District Judge's order and directed the appeal to be disposed of on merit.