Sufficient cause is sine qua non for condonation of delay; mercy or equity cannot substitute statutory requirement.

O R D E R

The Tenant is the Civil Revision Petitioner. He challenges the order passed in dismissing the application filed to set aside the exparte order of eviction.

2. The relationship between the parties is not in dispute.

Alleging that the tenant had committed acts of wilful default, the landlord filed R.L.T.O.P.No.22 of 2021. Summons were served in the said petition. The tenant did not enter appearance. Consequently, the Rent Court proceeded to pass an order of eviction on 15.11.2022. 3. The tenant filed a petition in I.A.No.2 of 2023, seeking to condone a delay of 402 days in filing an application to set aside the exparte decree. The plea of the petitioner was that, due to his avocation, he used to stay out of Thoothukudi and thus, he was not aware of the order of eviction.

4. The learned Trial Judge, after receipt of the counter from the landlord, proceeded to dismiss the petition. Hence, the revision. 5. Heard Mr.P.Rajesh representing Mr.M.P.Senthil for the Civil Revision Petitioner and Mr.R.Ponkarthikeyan for the Respondent. 6. The first submission of the petitioner is that Section 21(2)(g)

itself has been repealed by virtue of amended Act 19 of 2022. He further seeks to take benefit of the order passed by the Supreme Court in In re: cognizance of extension of limitation, 2022 SCC Online SC 27. Finally, it is the submission that he has been doing business in the premises for 85 years and if eviction is ordered, he will be put to irreparable loss and prejudice.

7. Per contra, Mr.R.Ponkarthikeyan appearing for the landlord states that the petitioner is a consistent defaulter. He states that the default in rents runs into several lakhs. He states that it was only after the orders were passed by this Court on 26.03.2025, the tenant paid a sum of Rs.10,00,000/- to the landlord. He states that the tenant has not given any “sufficient cause” for the purpose of condonation of delay. Hence, he seeks dismissal of the said petition.

8. I have carefully considered the submissions of both sides and I have gone through the records.

9. First, the omission of Section 21(2)(g) is not with retrospective effect. It is only prospective. Hence, it will not affect pending application or orders already passed.

10. The landlord, not only succeeded in obtaining an order of eviction on 15.11.2022, but also proceeded to put the order into execution by filing a petition in E.P. No.21 of 2023. It was only after the notice in execution was served that the tenant came forward to file a petition to condone the delay and to set aside the ex parte order. This is not a case where the tenant was not served with summons in the original proceedings. He had been served, but he chose to remain ex parte. Even if I were to give consideration to the suspension of limitation by the Supreme Court due to COVID-19, the said period expired on 28.02.2022. There is absolutely no explanation as to what the petitioner was doing from 01.03.2022 till the date of filing of the petition on 20.04.2023. The Supreme Court did not suspend the Limitation Act ad infinitum. The suspension was only between 15.03.2020 and 28.02.2022. Thereafter, it is the duty of the person claiming the benefit of the judgment to show “sufficient cause” as to what prevented him from filing the petition from 01.03.2022 till the date of filing. A perusal of the papers does not disclose any explanation for the period of one year from 01.03.2022 to 20.04.2023.

11. The existence of sufficient cause is sine qua non for the purpose of condonation of delay. When sufficient cause is not made out, mercy or equity cannot be grounds to condone the delay. Furthermore, as pointed out by Mr.Ponkarthikeyan, the tenant is in arrears of several lakhs of rupees. Hence, I do not find even equitable reason to set aside the order of dismissal of the application filed under Section 5.

12. At this stage, Mr.Rajesh submitted that the tenant will vacate and hand over the possession of the property on or before 31.12.2026. The undert