2006 (4) TMI 480

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..... that the impugned order was received in the Office of the Deputy Commissioner (CT), Salem, on October 23, 2001 and after calling for the relevant assessment records and after having prepared the necessary review report the records were forwarded to the Principal Commissioner and Commissioner of Commercial Taxes on January 7, 2002. The Legal Wing of the Commercial Taxes Department, after considering the merits of the case and the issues involved thought it fit to circulate the files for obtaining legal opinion on the feasibility of agitating the matter further and therefore the records were sent on August 28, 2002. On receipt of opinion, the necessary papers were made ready and writ petition is filed now. In the above process, if any delay h .....

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..... y fully satisfy the High Court that the facts and circumstances of the case clearly justified the laches or undue delay on their part in approaching the court for grant of such discretionary relief. In a catena of decisions, the honourable Supreme Court of India has laid down the principles of law to be applied in the matter of exercise of discretionary power under article 226 of the Constitution of India, when there is laches and undue delay in approaching the court for remedy. Some of such decisions are: (a) Tilokchand Motichand v. H. B. Munshi, Commissioner of Sales Tax [1970] 25 STC 289 (SC); [1969] 1 SCC 119; AIR 1970 SC 898. (b) Aflatoon v. Lt. Governor of Delhi [1975] 4 SCC 285; AIR 1974 SC 2077. The principles of law lai .....

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..... not be reasonable to place him if the remedy were afterwards to be asserted; in either of these cases, lapse of time and delay are most material . . . Two circumstances, always important in such cases, are, the length of the delay and the nature of the acts done during the interval, which might affect either party and cause a balance of justice or injustice in taking the one course or the other, so far as it relates to the remedy. The underlying object is that the courts do not encourage agitation of stale claims and exhuming matters which have already been disposed of or where the rights of third parties have accrued in the meantime, or where there is no reasonable explanation for delay. This principle applies even in case of infringem .....

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