An oral application for condonation of delay is permissible in some instances where facts giving rise to the cause of delay are already borne out by materials on record.

( 1 ) THIS application under Article 226/227 of the constitution of India is at the instance of the unsucessful applicants before the west Bengal Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal and is directed against order dated February 15, 2007 passed by the said Tribunal thereby dismissing the application filed by the writ petitioners.

( 2 ) BEING dissatisfied with an order dated July 3, 2002 passed by the B. L. and l. R. O. concerned, the private respondents before us, the owners of the disputed lands, moved an application before the Tribunal thereby challenging the order of the said B. L. and L. R. O. by which the predecessors-in-interest of the present writ petitioners were declared bargadar in respect of the property in dispute with direction upon him to take possession of the property concerned. The tribunal dismissed the said application on the ground that the private respondents had efficacious alternative remedy by way of appeal.

( 3 ) BEING dissatisfied, the private respondents, in the past, filed a writ application under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India before a Division bench of this Court but the said Division Bench dismissed such application thereby affirming the order passed by the Tribunal.

( 4 ) SUBSEQUENTLY, the private respondents filed an appeal before the appellate authority under section 54 of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act against the order passed by the B. L. and L. R. O. beyond 253 days after the expiry of the period of limitation prescribed by law. The appeal was not accompanied by any application for condonation of delay. During the pendency of the said appeal, the predecessors-in-interest of the present writ petitioners in whose favour the b. L. and L. R. O. passed the order impugned in the appeal died but notwithstanding such fact, the private respondents, did not substitute the heirs and legal representatives of the said declared bargadar in the appeal.

( 5 ) THE present writ petitioners, who are all the sons of the deceased person in whose favour the B. L. and L. R. O. had granted relief, appeared before the appellate authority of their own and contended that the appellate authority had no jurisdiction to take up the appeal, which was filed beyond the period of limitation without condoning the delay in preferring such appeal. They also pointed out that the sole respondent before the appellate authority had already died and, therefore, without substituting them in place of the deceased respondent the appeal could not proceed.

( 6 ) NOTWITHSTANDING those objections, the appellate authority, curiously enough, entered into the merit of the appeal and came to the conclusion that the finding of the B. L. and L. R. O. concerned which was the subject-matter of the appeal was illegal and, therefore, set aside the order passed by the B. L. and l. R. O. and remanded the matter back to the B. L. and L. R. O. for fresh decision.

( 7 ) BEING dissatisfied, the writ petitioners moved the Tribunal thereby complaining that the appellate authority could not allow the appeal against a dead man and that too, in an appeal preferred beyond the period of limitation without condoning the delay in preferring the appeal.

( 8 ) THE Tribunal by the order impugned herein accepted the position that the appeal was preferred beyond the period of limitation; notwithstanding such position, the Tribunal decided to ignore such question by making the following observation:

". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Although, in our opinion, delay should have been explained by the appellants and in the interest of natural justice, the applicants should also have been given an opportunity for registering their objection to that appeal. However, since the condonation of delay is the discretionary power of the appellate authority, we do not intend to make any comment on that. Moreover, we agree to the argument of the ld. G. R. that the appellate authority has not decided the matter finally and has rema