Judgment

S. Saghir Ahmad, J.-Leave granted.

Appellant’s writ petition in the Allahabad High Court which was listed on 24.4.1996 was disposed of in the absence of his counsel and was dismissed on merits. An application filed thereafter for setting aside the order dated 24.4.1996 was dismissed on 27.8.1997. It is against this order that the present appeal has been filed.

2. The writ petition in which the above order was passed was listed before the High Court on 24.4.1996. The counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant had sent an “Illness Slip”. This is not disputed. It is also not disputed that the counsel was ill. It is further not disputed that the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court had granted the application of the appellant’s counsel for adjournment of his cases on the ground of his being ill. The court, however, did not adjourn the case and proceeded to hear and dispose of the writ petition on merits in the absence of the appellant’s counsel. The writ petition, as pointed out earlier, was ultimately dismissed and when an application for recall of the order dated 24.4.1996 was given, it was also reject­ed by the High Court on the ground that the “Illness Slip” sent by th