MUHAMMAD SARWAR vs DIRECTORGENERAL and others
This matter concerns a petition for special leave to appeal filed by a former employee against a judgment of the Federal Service Tribunal, which had dismissed his appeal on the grounds of being time-barred. The core legal question before the Supreme Court was whether the petitioner had provided a valid and sufficient explanation for the delay in filing his appeal before the Tribunal. Upon review, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Federal Service Tribunal. The Court held that the petitioner was under a clear legal obligation to explain the delay in his filing, a burden he failed to discharge. Consequently, the Tribunal acted correctly and in accordance with the applicable law and rules when it dismissed the appeal as barred by time. The Supreme Court found no satisfactory explanation for the delay presented before it either, and therefore, dismissed the petition for special leave to appeal. The judgment reinforces the principle that an appellant bears the burden of justifying any delay in legal proceedings and that failure to do so justifies the dismissal of an appeal as time-barred.
- Is an appellant under a legal obligation to explain the delay in filing an appeal before the Federal Service Tribunal?
- Does the failure to provide a satisfactory explanation for delay justify the dismissal of an appeal as time-barred?
ORDER
1. ' GHULAM MUJADDID, J.--The view taken by the Federal Service Tribunal in its judgment dated 3-10- 1981 is in accordance with law and rules applicable to the case of the petitioner. The petitioner was under legal obligation to explain the delay. He failed to do so. The Tribunal acted in accordance with law in dismissing his appeal as barred by time.
2. ' Even before us learned counsel has not been able to give any satisfactory explanation for the delay. Accordingly this petition for special leave to appeal filed by Mohammad Sarwar, Ex- Telephone Operator, resident of 20, Risala Bazar, Old Anarkali, Lahore, against the judgment of the Tribunal dated 3-10-1981 is dismissed.