Abdul Ghafoor & Anr vs State Of Bihar

sentences for the other two offences were of lesser

periods and all the sentences were directed to run

concurrently. The appeal preferred by the appellants

against the judgment and order passed by the trial

court was dismissed by the Sessions Judge. They

approached the High Court in Criminal Revision

No.1383/2010 but the revision was filed after a delay

2 of more than 15 months. The appellants sought

condonation of delay in filing the revision taking

plea that they were working in Delhi to earn their

livelihood and it took them some time to go back to

their home and take steps for filing the revision. The

High Court did not accept the reason assigned by the

appellants as a valid or sufficient reason for

condoning the delay and, consequently, dismissed the

revision, without going into the merits of the case,

as barred by limitation.

We are unable to agree with the view taken by

the High Court.

The law of limitation is indeed an important

law on the statute book. It is in furtherance of the

sound public policy to put a quietus to disputes or

grievances of which resolution and redressal are not

sought within the prescribed time. The law of

limitation is intended to allow things to finally

settle down after a reasonable time and not to let

everyone live in a state of uncertainty. It does not

permit any one to raise claims that are very old and

stale and does not allow anyone to approach the higher

tiers of the judicial system for correction of the

lower court's orders or for redressal of grievances at

ones own sweet will. The law of limitation indeed must

get due respect and observance by all courts. We must,

3 however, add that in cases of conviction and

imposition of sentence of imprisonment, the court must

show far greater indulgence and flexibility in

applying the law of limitation than in any other kind

of case. A sentence of imprisonment relates to a

person's right to personal liberty which is one of the

most important rights available to an individual and,

therefore, the court should be very reluctant to shut

out a consideration of the case on merits on grounds

of limitation or any other similar technicality.

Coming to the case in hand, it is a well known

fact that a large number of people come from Bihar to

Delhi leaving their hearths and homes to earn a

livelihood. A vast number of them work in unorganized

sectors. Once caught in the vortex of earning the

daily bread, all other important things in life such

as marriage in the family, medical treatment and even

defending oneself in a criminal proceeding are

relegated to the background. We feel that the High

Court dismissed the appellant's revision quite

mechanically applying the bar of limitation and

without giving any allowance to the circumstances of

the appellants.

Looking at the matter from another point of

view, under the Patna High Court Rules, a revision

against conviction can be entertained only after the

4 revision-petitioner surrenders before the

court below. Thankfully, this rule, unlike some other

provisions of the High Court Rules, is still followed

very strictly. Thus, as the revision filed by the

appellants was taken up by the High Court they were

already in jail. In case, the revision was dismissed

after consideration on merits, the appellants would

have continued to remain in jail to serve out their

sentences. Had the revision been filed in time, they

would have surrendered 15 months earlier and thus

would have completed their sentence 15 months earlier.

All that happened due to the delayed filing of the

revision is that they would complete their sentence,

in case of dismissal of the revision 15 months later.

In light of what is said above, we are clearly

of the view that it was a fit case in which the High

Court should have condoned the delay in filing the

revision by the appellants and examined their case on

merits.

We, accordingly, set aside the order of the

High Court and restore the Criminal Revision Petition

No.1383 of 2010 to its original file. The High Court

is requested to take it up for hearing and decide it

expeditiously. In the meanwhile, the appellants shall

continue to remain on bail, as granted by this Court.

The appeal is disposed of with the above

5 observations and directions.

..........................................................J. (Aftab Alam)

..........................................................J. Ranjana Prakash Desai) New Delhi, September 16, 2011