( 1 ) THIS is an application at the instance of State of West Bengal represented by the Collector, Howrah, under section 5 of the limitation Act for condonation of delay of 1927 days in filing a first appeal against the order dated 23rd February, 1998 passed by the Land Acquisition tribunal, Howrah in L. A. Misc. Case No. 33 of 1987 thereby enhancing the valuation of the acquired land from Rs. 2287/- to Rs. 10,000/- per cottah.

( 2 ) THE appellant has given the following reasons in support of the prayer for condonation of delay: (A) The judgment impugned having been passed on 23rd February, 1998 the Government Pleader, Howrah sent the copy of the judgment without any authentication to the department of L. A. Collector on 10th March, 1998. (B) On 7th January, 2001 on receiving the authenticated copy, a proposalwas sent for getting the certified copy from the office of the Collector,howrah to the office of the Govt. Pleader. (C) As the concerned L. A. case was not traced out and misplaced due to shifting of office from the previous place to the present place, after thorough searching, some portion of records were ultimately traced out on 7th January, 1999 a