M/S.Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. v. Cdr Kehar Singh S/O Kartar Singh
Case brief
What is this about?
Bombay High Court (Jitendra Jain, J.), Interim Application No. 7920 of 2025 in First Appeal No. 245 of 2012, M/s. Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (Applicant/Appellant, original Defendant) v. CDR Kehar Singh (Respondent, original Plaintiff), decided 24 November 2025: restoration application filed over six years (2000+ days) after dismissal of appeal on 24.01.2019 dismissed for want of satisfactory explanation; Covid-19 pandemic excuse rejected as dismissal predates March 2020 onset of pandemic; vague organisational-changes plea without evidence rejected; condonation of delay; sufficient cause; delay without sufficient reason cannot be condoned; relies on Shivamma vs. Karnataka Housing Board & Ors., 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1969 (Supreme Court).
What did the court decide?
Explaining the delay by attributing it to the Covid-19 Pandemic is misconceived, because the Covid-19 Pandemic started in March 2020 whereas the Appeal was dismissed in January 2019, more than a year before the pandemic.