ORDER :

1. This special leave petition is filed by the State of Bihar. By the impugned judgment, Second Appeal No. 207 of 2015 preferred before the High Court of Patna with a delay of 4 years and 23 days, was dismissed as the High Court declined to condone the delay.

2. Aggrieved by the said order, the State has filed the instant Special Leave Petition.

3. The learned counsel appearing for the State very vehemently argued that he would be failing in his duty if he did not bring the earlier judgment to the notice of this Court. He placed a judgment reported in 2000(9) SCC 94 (State of Bihar and Others vs. Kameshwar Prasad Singh and Another). The learned counsel relied upon para 11 of the said judgment which reads as follows:-

“11. Power to condone the delay in approaching the court has been conferred upon the courts to enable them to do substantial justice to parties by disposing of matters on merits. This Court in Collector, Land Acquisition Vs. Katiji (1987) 2 SCC 107 held that the expression 'sufficient cause' employed by the legislature in the Limitation Act is adequately elastic to enbale the courts to apply the law in a meaningful manner which subserves the ends of justice – that