The Supreme Court overturned a trial court's decision in Maharashtra, which permitted a third party to submit an application seeking forgiveness for a delay in restoring a land acquisition lawsuit.

The division bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta also invalidated a Bombay High Court ruling that had affirmed the trial court's decision.

The Court remarked, "If the approach taken by the trial court is endorsed, it would open the door for anyone, regardless of their involvement in the suit, to seek forgiveness for delays in filing applications to reinstate the case."

The bench presided over an appeal lodged by the State of Maharashtra, contesting the rulings of both the trial court and the High Court.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the state, contended that the trial court erred in considering an application from a third party who had no connection to the proceedings, particularly when an existing application had been pending before the trial court since November 2019.

In contrast, the respondents, represented by Senior Advocate CA Sundaram, asserted that the third-party applicant had obtained a right to be part of the suit through an unregistered agreement for sale dating back to 2009. Therefore, they argued that he had a legitimate basis to submit the condonation of delay application, especially since the original plaintiffs were not actively pursuing the matter.

Without delving into the specifics of the sale agreement, the court determined that the trial court's decision to permit the delay application was unsustainable in law.