JUDGMENT :

SANDEEP SHARMA, J.

1. Since there is a delay of two years, ten months and eight days in maintaining the accompanying appeal, whereby applicants/appellants intend to lay challenge to Award dated 7.8.2015, passed by learned District Judge (Forests), Shimla in Land Reference No. 36-S/4 of 2013/12, instant application has been filed, seeking therein condonation of delay in maintaining the appeal.

2. By way of detailed reply to the application, aforesaid prayer made on behalf of the applicants/appellants has been seriously opposed by the non-applicant/respondent, who has categorically stated in the reply that the delay of more that 1042 days has not been explained properly and no plausible explanation qua inordinate delay in filing the appeal has been rendered on record.

3. Before proceeding further to decide the application at hand on its merit, it may be noticed that, having taken note of aforesaid objection raised by the nonapplicant/ respondent, this Court, with a view to afford an opportunity to the applicants/appellants to explain the delay, granted time to file a supplementary affidavit and also summoned the record with regard to the legal opinion rendered by the Law Department to file appeal in this Court. On 5.7.2019, this Court, having carefully perused the record, vis-à-vis explanation rendered in the application, concluded that the applicants/appellants have not approached this Court with clean hands, rather, an attempt has been made to hoodwink the court by placing on record wrong facts, as such, this Court directed Shri Jitender Dhiman, Superintending Engineer, 14th Circle, Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department, Rohroo, to remain present in the court. Though, on 26.7.2019, aforesaid officer came present in the court, but this Court, on the vehement request of learned Additional Advocate General, granted time to file the supplementary affidavit, explaining therein the delay.

4. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record.

5. Careful perusal of the pleadings adduced on record by the applicants qua the delay in filing the accompanying appeal, clearly reveals that the Award sought to be laid challenge by way of accompanying appeal was pronounced by learned District Judge (Forests) on 7.8.2015 and an application for procuring certified copy thereof was made on 20.8.2015. Though the certified copy of the Award was delivered on 31.8.2015 to the office of applicant/appellant No.4, but since the file was misplaced in the office of applicant/appellant No.4, same could not be processed further for obtaining the opinion/advice of the Law Department. As per applicants/appellants, factum with regard to passing of Award dated 7.8.2015 by learned District Judge (Forests) came to the notice of the Department, at the time when case file pertaining to another case titled Yadvender vs. State and another was received with the advice of the Government to file appeal in that matter. Since aforesaid file in Yadvender’s case was received in the month of March, 2018 and file of the case at hand was wrongly tagged with the aforesaid file, appeal could not be filed within the prescribed period of limitation.

6. Interestingly, in the application at hand, it has been averred that on 1.5.2018, Government, in consultation with the Law Department, advised the Department to file an appeal, whereas, record reveals that the factum with regard to passing of Award, sought to be laid challenge, by way of accompanying appeal was very much in the knowledge of the Department, because, District Attorney (Forests) had been regularly putting in appearance in the execution petition filed by the non-applicant/respondent in the executing court.

7. Mr. Jitender Dhiman, Superintending Engineer, 14th Circle, Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department, Rohroo, in his supplementary affidavit, dated 14.8.2019, stated that after passing of Award by learned District Judge (Forests), office of District Attorney (Forests), a