The Sikkim High Court has condoned the delay in a civil revision, holding that procedural missteps substantially attributable to legal advice should not prevent a litigant from obtaining a decision on the merits.
Justice Bhaskar Raj Pradhan considered a challenge to a December 2024 order of the Civil Judge (Senior Division), Pakyong. The applicant had pursued transfer proceedings before the district court and later the High Court while legal-aid counsel changed during the litigation.
The court held that the period spent pursuing the transfer request before the district judge had to be excluded under Section 12 of the Limitation Act. It acknowledged that the applicant may have been poorly advised to seek transfer when a revision was the appropriate remedy.
Emphasising a justice-oriented approach, the court said counsel’s actions should not bind a client in a manner that causes justice to suffer. It rejected a pedantic treatment of the condonation request, allowed the application and directed that the revision be heard on its merits.