An appellate or revisional court will not interfere with a lower court’s discretionary refusal to condone a significant delay in filing an appeal unless the order is shown to be perverse, arbitrary, or suffering from material illegality, as the law of limitation must be applied rigorously to uphold public policy.

1. Heard counsel for the petitioner.

2. The first appeal filed by the petitioner herein before the State Commission was dismissed vide order dated 13.02.2026 on account of limitation, having been filed with a delay of 3 years, 2 months, and 27 days. The period of delay in filing the first appeal before the State Commission is not in dispute.

3. The counsel for the petitioner contends that his client, Mr. Rajendra Patel, is not a partner of the partnership firm Patel Associates, who was made OP-1 before the District Commission. The District Commission vide its order dated 13.09.2022, has passed directions against the respondents jointly or severally. The memo of parties as per the said order of the District Commission is reproduced below:

“1. Mandira Mukherjee wife of Shri Tapovrat Mukherjee

2. Tapovrat Mukherjee S/o Shivpada Mukherjee

Both R/o address- C.O.D.,

Jabalpur (M.P.)

.....Complainants

Versus

1. Patel Associates,

Through Rajendra Patel (Partner),

Address- Near Metri Nagar, Patel Nagar,

Maharajpur, Jabalpur, (M.P.)

2. Ishtiyaq Ansari,

S/o Babu Wahid, R/o address Naya Basti,

Gohalpur, Jabalpur (M.P.)

3. M/s Patel Associates, Through Manoj Patel

S/o late Shri Har Prasad Patel (Manager),

Address- Purani Basti, Maharajpur

Jabalpur (M.P.).

......... Non-applicants”

4. The Petitioner has challenged the orders of the State Commission on following grounds:

(i) The petitioner is aggrieved by the impugned order of the District Commission for its perversity and illegality in directing the petitioner to bear jointly and severally the responsibility and liability of repayment to the complainants, whereas the petitioner is nowhere in legal existence in any document, and therefore the same deserves to be set aside.

(ii) Both the Commissions below failed to appreciate that from the very beginning the petitioner raised objections regarding his non-involvement in the transaction. The complaint filed with, wrong particulars, wrong names of partners, and non-joinder of necessary parties is not maintainable against the petitioner and therefore deserves to be set aside.

(iii) The alleged agreement (C1) is doubtful as it is undated, executed on Rs. 100 non-judicial stamp, and does not mention the housing project "Sunderban". The original document was not filed, raising serious suspicion that it was created subsequently. Both Commissions ignored these aspects and relied only on payment of Rs.7,76,000/- to Respondent No. 4, causing injustice to the petitioner.

(iv) Necessary parties were not impleaded as "Patel Associates" and "M/s Patel Associates" were made parties through individuals, and the petitioner was unnecessarily impleaded. The presence of Muhinuddin’s signature in the agreement, who was not made a party, further raises doubts and indicates non-joinder of necessary parties, making the complaint not maintainable.

(v) The agreement shows endorsement and signature of Muhinuddin on behalf of Patel Associates, indicating possible compromise and creation of an unreliable and afterthought document. The absence of the project name and mention of only Khasra numbers further strengthens suspicion about the genuineness of the document.

(vi) The complainants were investors and not consumers, as the project was delayed due to litigation before Revenue Authorities and subsequent proceedings, facts which were within their knowledge. The issue of maintainability on this ground was not properly decided by the Commissions below.

(vii) As per the partnership deed dated 01.11.2006, other partners namely Shrimati Rashmi Patel, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Muinuddin, and Ashfaq Ahmed were necessary parties and liability, if any, should be divided among them. The bank account of the firm was operated by Rashmi Patel and Muinuddin Ansari,