( 1 ) THIS Civil Application in filed by the applicant-Municipal corporation, for condonation of delay in filing the Civil Appeal. Being aggrieved by the order passed by the Chief Judge of the Small Cause Court at Ahmedabad in Municipal Valuation Appeal No. 13690 of 1988, decided on 17/01/1991, that appeal is filed by the Corporation in this Court on 18/04/1991. The appeal is filed under Sec. 411 of the Bombay Provincial Municipal corporations Act. 1949 (hereinafter referred to as the B. P. M. C. Act ). Under the said provision, an appeal could be filed within a period of 30 days from the date of the order impugned. There is delay of 38 days in filing the appeal on the part of the appellant-Corporation. This Civil Application is, therefore, filed by the applicant for getting the delay condoned. Since no sufficient particulars and material facts had been narrated by the applicant in the application for condonation of delay, further affidavit was filed explaining the delay by one Mr. M. S. Shah, Dy. Accountant of the applicant-Corporation on 15/11/1991. Even that affidavit was also not sufficient and therefore, additional affidavit by one Mr. L. B. Patel, Assessor and Collector of the applicant-Corporation was filed on 23/06/1992. This application has been hotly contested by the other side by filing an affidavit-in-reply. I have heard the parties, A number of decisions have also been cited by the learned Counsel for the parties.

( 2 ) LOOKING to the record and affidavits filed on behalf of the applicant- corporation, it appears that the order was passed by the trial Court on 17/01/1991. Immediately on the next day, i e. , on 18/01/1991, certified copy thereof was applied, which was ready on 11/02/1991 and delivered on the same day. la the first affidavit it was stated that after receiving the certified copy of the order, the clerk of the Advocate submitted that copy in the Advocates department of the Corporation and it was sent to the Tax department by the Advocates department on 12/03/1991. The period between 11/02/1991 and 12/03/1991 has been explained in that affidavit in the following terms :"i would like to draw the kind attention of this Honble Court that there are number of matters related to the valuation Appeals in the Advocates department and the Advocates department is receiving approximately 200 judgments in a day. Thus, a large number of MVA Appeals and the orders passed thereupon received everyday. The clerk working in the Advocates department sorts out the bunch of certified copies and hands over to the concerned Advocates appearing in the matter and thereafter the concerned advocate submits the copy of the judgment to the head of the Advocate department alongwith his remarks There were about 2000 matters pending for law Officers opinion. The head of the department after looking into the matter, if he thinks fit, gives his remarks and thereafter the matter goes to the tax department. The tax department is a very big department and there are also a large number of MVA Appeals pending at various stages. The concerned officer of the tax department, after receiving the papers from the Advocates department examines the matter and sends it to the Assessor and Tax Collector alongwith his remarks. The Assessor and Tax Collector sends it to the Dy. Municipal commissioner for appropriate action and thereafter the file returns to the concerned officer of tax department and thereafter he sends it to the Legal Department. The legal Department, after examining the matter, sends it to the concerned Advocate in the High Court of Gujarat. Thus the process of filing the Civil Appeal is very long. "it is the case of the applicant-Corporation that after receiving the certified copy alongwith remarks by the Tax department on 12/03/1991, the Tax department processed the file upto the Deputy Municipal Commissioner level and sent it to the Legal department on 21/03/1991. The Legal department examined the matter and sent the pa