Express Newspapers Private Limited And ANR. v. The Board Of Trustees Of The Port Of Bombay And 11 ORS.

Before : Sachin B. Bhansali, FOR HEARING AND FINAL DISPOSAL :

Mr. Nihar Chitre i/b. Dhanuka and Parnters, Advocate for the applicant.

Ms. Heenal Wadhwa i/b. The Law Point, Advocate for respondent no. 1.

P.C.:

The present Chamber Order is taken out by the applicant for setting aside Order dated 20.02.2024, rejecting captioned Petition under O.S.Rule 986 for non-compliance of office objections.

Ld. Advocate for the applicant submits that respondents were served with the Chamber Order as per Affidavits of Service, which are on record. Despite service, none appeared for and on behalf of the respondents, save and except, respondent no. 1.

Heard ld. Advocates for the applicant and respondent no. 1. Perused Affidavit in Support to the Chamber Order. The contentions raised in paragraph no. 3 of Affidavit in Support are reproduced as under :- " 3. I say that all the office objections raised by the Registry were cured by my Advocates, Dhanuka and Partners within the time frame provided by Order dated 20.02.2024 but still inadvertently, the Registry has dismissed the above captioned Writ Petition for purported non-removal of office objections.

The lapse has been on part of the Department in not recording that the objections have been complied with and in not providing the final number within the specified time period. I undertake to follow up with the registry to register the Writ Petition within three weeks from the date of such Order".

2 Before : Sachin B. Bhansali, contd....

Perused record and proceedings of the Writ Petition (L) No. 29977/2023, more particularly, office objections raised by the ld. Scrutiny Officer and endorsement given by the ld. Scrutiny Officer made on 26.12.2023. So also, perused Report submitted by the concerned ld. Scrutiny Officer in that respect. It shows that the applicant has not complied with office objections at sr. nos. 1, 2, 7 and 9. It is matter of record that captioned Petition was listed before this Authority on 20.02.2024 for rejection of the petition under O.S.Rule 986 for want of compliance of office objections. On the said date, two weeks time to remove office objections was granted. Despite giving opportunity, the petitioner failed to remove office objections on the petition and get it finally numbered due to which petition got rejected under O.S.Rule

986. In view thereof, it is clear that the petitioner remained passive in non-removing office objections within time and now, by way of paragraph no. 3 of Affidavit in Support, as noted above, the petitioner made allegations on the Registry of this Court that despite removal of office objections, inadvertently, the Registry rejected the captioned petition. Hence, I do not find any substance in such allegations made by the petitioner.

At this stage, ld. Advocate appearing for the petitioner tenders apology for contentions, as aforesaid, raised in paragraph no. 3 of Affidavit in Support and made a statement that he will personally look into the matter and comply office objections within given time if it is restored to file. Statement is accepted. In reply, ld. Advocate appearing for respondent no. 1 submits that captioned petition may be restored to file by imposing heavy cost.

3 Before : Sachin B. Bhansali, contd....

Considering statement of ld. Advocate for the applicant/petitioner, as above, and submission of ld. Advocate for respondent no. 1, I am of the view that one opportunity needs to be given to the applicant to pursue with the captioned petition so that substantial justice can be taken care of. Moreover, except respondent no. 1, none appeared for rest of the respondents despite service. Therefore, apology tendered by ld. Advocate for the petitioner is accepted.

Hence, in the interest of justice, the present Chamber Order is granted as prayed subject to payment of cost of Rs. 2000/-, to be payable to the ld. Advocate for respondent no. 1 within two weeks from the date of uploading of order. Chamber Order is signed separately.

Upon payment of cost, as above, the petitioner to remove office objections on the Petition and get the same registered and/or numbered within four weeks from the date of uploading of order, failing Petition to stand rejected for non-compliance of office objections under O.S.Rule 986.

Date : 23.10.2024 Prothonotary and Senior Master Digitally signed by RAJEEV VIJAY ACHARYA Date:

2024.10.25 18:39:44 +0530 RAJEEV VIJAY ACHARYA