Government Appeals Deserve Realistic Consideration Of Bureaucratic Process: J&K High Court Condones Delay In Filing Appeal Beyond NIA Act Limit

The High Court was hearing an application filed by the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir seeking condonation of delay in challenging an order of the Special Court under the NIA Act that had granted bail to certain accused persons.

A Division Bench of Justice Shahzad Azeem and Justice Sindhu Sharma, while deciding the matter, stated that “where Government is a litigant, then we should not be ignorant of the fact that file has to be routed through different departments of the State which requires some time to take a final decision and further we must be alive to the practical reality of the bureaucratic delays and slow pace in reaching a Government decision and the routine way of deciding the State to prefer an appeal against the judgment or not.”

The appeal was argued by Mohsin Qadiri, Senior Additional Advocate General, while Advocate A.R. Trali appeared for the respondents.

Background

The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir had filed an appeal against the order of the Additional Sessions Judge, Pulwama, who had granted bail to multiple accused persons under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The appeal, however, was delayed by 146 days beyond the prescribed period.

The Government explained that the delay occurred due to administrative procedures, including the movement of the file through various departments, obtaining a legal opinion, and final sanction from the competent authority. An affidavit was filed detailing the timeline of these official communications to show that the delay was neither deliberate nor negligent.

The respondents opposed the application, arguing that the NIA Act restricts the condonation of delay beyond ninety days and that the Government’s explanation did not justify such a prolonged delay. They further submitted that the trial had already advanced substantially by the time the appeal was filed.

Court’s Observation

The J&K and Ladakh High Court noted that the issue regarding the outer limit of condonation of delay under Section 21 of the NIA Act had already been settled in its earlier judgment in National Investigation Agency v. 3rd Additional Sessions Judge, District Court Jammu, wherein the High Court had interpreted the word “shall” in the proviso to mean “may”, granting courts discretion to condone delay when justified by sufficient cause.

Reiterating that procedural rigor should not override substantive justice, the Bench emphasised that each case must be assessed in context, especially where the Government is the appellant, noting that procedural movement of files through multiple levels of bureaucracy often results in unavoidable delays that warrant a pragmatic judicial approach.

Referring to State of Manipur v. Koting Lamkang, the Court noted that the Supreme Court had condoned a similar delay by recognising that government decision-making processes are inherently time-consuming, while reiterating that adopting an overly technical approach would defeat the cause of justice and prevent adjudication of meritorious matters.

The Bench further observed that the Government had provided a detailed explanation supported by records, showing bona fide efforts to obtain necessary approvals within procedural constraints. The delay, therefore, could not be considered deliberate or negligent.

Conclusion

Holding that the explanation furnished by the Government was reasonable and sufficient, the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court condoned the 146-day delay in filing the appeal.

Accordingly, the Court directed that the main appeal under Section 21 of the NIA Act be listed for hearing on merits.

Cause Title: Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir v. Shahid Nazir Bhat & Others

Appearances

Petitioner: Mohsin Qadiri, Sr. AAG, with Maha Majeed, AC

Respondents: A.R. Trali, Advocate

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